


(Go on and) Kiss the Boy

by GinnyRose



Series: Peter Parker: Disaster Bi Extraordinaire [5]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Attempted robbery, Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Bisexual Peter Parker, But Peter Doesn't Want Him to Be, Canon Compliant, Dorks in Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay Ned Leeds, Getting Together, Legos, Lying to the Police, M/M, Ned Just Wanted to Chill, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Little Shit, Oblivious Ned Leeds, Oblivious Peter Parker, Peter Breaks the Rules, Peter Fails at Romance, Peter Follows Some Bad Advice, Peter Has No Chill, Peter Parker Has a Huge Crush, Peter Plans Poorly, Peter and Ned are Little Shits, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter, Sneaky Peter, Unsupervised Minors, science experiments gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-26 18:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyRose/pseuds/GinnyRose
Summary: Ned was going to spend four nights with Peter in the apartment. Alone. With Peter. Sharing his bedroom.For four nights.He was panicking. Just a little bit.Maybe a lot.Okay, he was definitely panicking a lot.Or: May is going away for a business trip and Peter takes the chance to try and take Mr. Stark's advice and tell Ned how he feels.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a direct continuation from "I Won't Say It" (the fourth in this series) and probably would make the most sense if you read that first. Also there is a very minor injury in this story (no real violence at all) so I didn't tag it but I thought I would give a brief warning just in case.

Peter was a nervous ball of energy, unable to keep still from the moment he had woken up to the early light streaming from his bedroom window. It was Saturday, which normally meant that Peter would be out doing patrols all day until May came home for dinner. However, May had to go to a nursing conference upstate and she had implemented a strict no Spider-Man policy while she was out of town. She had originally wanted to send him to the compound with Mr. Stark for the weekend both to make sure that he was staying out of trouble and because, even though he could very much handle himself, May didn’t like the idea of him being home alone for too long - she wouldn’t be coming back until Wednesday and four nights would have been the longest Peter had stayed by himself and May was a worrier by nature.

Peter probably would have loved going upstate for the weekend – a full two days of living in the Avengers Compound was a dream come true – but he needed to stay in the city for reasons he wasn’t quite ready to share with his aunt, so Peter had instead proposed the plan that he could stay in the city the entire time she was gone and have a friend stay over so that he wasn’t alone and wouldn’t be tempted to go out on patrol. It had taken a lot of persuasion on his part and some help from Mr. Stark to get May to agree. The older man had been incredibly amused at the idea of Peter needing to be babysat for a weekend – which was not _true_ , May not wanting him to be alone was completely different from him needing to be watched over by someone - but he had eventually convinced her that Peter was responsible enough that she could accept his alternative plan.

Which meant that Ned was going to be coming over within the next few hours so that May could lay down some extra rules before she left and he wouldn’t be leaving until Wednesday.

Ned was going to spend four nights with Peter in the apartment. _Alone_. With _Peter_. Sharing his bedroom.

For _four_ nights.

He was panicking. Just a little bit.

Maybe a lot.

Okay, he was definitely panicking a lot.

Which is how he found himself in the kitchen at 7 in the morning on a Saturday, brewing coffee for his aunt and reorganizing the mail that was set on the kitchen table. He had been up for over an hour already and he had wiped down the counters twice and scrubbed the cabinet doors. It was a nervous habit he had picked up from his aunt – whenever May was anxious about something, she took to cleaning the apartment top to bottom. Peter had picked up the habit over the years – it was more productive to clean than to pace, bite his nails, or any other nervous habit he had dealt with as a child – and so, with a measly two hours until May left for her conference, Peter took to cleaning the already spotless kitchen.

It had been nearly two weeks since his conversation with Mr. Stark and his realization about Ned. Two weeks of trying to act completely normal while simultaneously trying to figure out what was the best way to tell his best friend that he had developed a huge crush on him. Which basically translated into two consecutive weeks of blushing every time Ned touched him, joked with him or even looked in his presence, creating Spider-Man related excuses to evade hanging out with Ned alone, avoiding his aunt’s increasingly concerned questions, ignoring Mr. Stark’s pointed texts asking if he’d asked his crush out yet, and pretending that he was doing none of that at all. It was driving Peter insane and he knew he couldn’t keep it up for much longer.

Which is why he had decided to convince May to let him stay in the city. Peter believed that if he exposed himself to that much prolonged Ned-time, he would at some point break and tell the boy he liked him. The way Peter figured, there were three possible outcomes. Either Ned would be weirded out and not want to be friends anymore - which would absolutely devastate Peter, Ned would be cool about it but not feel the same way – which would also hurt but at least he would still have his friend, or, by some sheer blind luck and an intervention from the universe, Ned would like him back.

Peter was aiming for one of the latter of the three options, but his mind kept traitorously circling back to the first. He didn’t know what he would do without Ned in his life – he barely even remembered a time when Ned _wasn’t_ in his life – and the very possibility of losing him, even without the ridiculously massive crush he currently had on him, was nearly overwhelming. But Peter also knew he had to tell the other boy – regardless of what happened, he had to be honest with Ned. Even if it ended up ruining their friendship.

Peter grabbed the sponge from the sink and began scrubbing some spots off the oven door left from May’s latest attempt at meatloaf, trying to push some of the worry from his mind. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he had figured out a tactful way to tell Ned but he had come up with nothing, apart from the plan of forcing them to live in close quarters with no adult supervision. Which was not the best of plans in any stretch of imagination.

He had been tempted to ask Mr. Stark for advice again but after the man’s initial suggestions two weeks ago, which primarily ranged from ridiculously expensive, outlandish gestures to just kissing him and see what happens (apparently that had worked with Miss Potts which had surprised Peter because he had always assumed she was the type of woman to slap a man that touched her without explicit permission), Peter had been a little too apprehensive to ask for further assistance. It didn’t help that Peter had never gotten around to telling Mr. Stark who his crush was in the first place, or even that it was on a boy at all and all the advice Mr. Stark had given him was about wooing girls. He didn’t think Ned would appreciate a nice set of earrings with a matching necklace, even if Peter could afford them.

He also felt that even Mr. Stark would be opposed to letting Peter spend multiple unsupervised nights with his crush, which had been the ultimate reason why Peter had kept quiet from his mentor. Peter may not have figured out the best way to confess his feelings to Ned but he knew one of the worst ways the other could find out involved having to cancel the whole weekend because Mr. Stark spilled everything to May. The fear of having to cancel the plan had also been what kept him from asking May for advice. May probably knew a lot more about dating boys than Mr. Stark did but despite how much of a cool aunt she was, there was no way she would let someone Peter was even remotely interested in stay the night even if she wasn’t going out of town.

So Peter was entering this endeavor completely blind, feeling panicky that it could all go to hell as well as slightly guilty that he was doing something wrong. Which technically he wasn’t– May had never _explicitly_ told him he couldn’t have a crush stay the night so even though he knew she wouldn’t approve, he wasn’t breaking any of her rules. The fact that May had probably never forbade it because she thought Peter was the last teenager in the entire city who would try something like this was one that he had been pointedly ignoring since he first came up with the plan. It didn’t help stop the guilty feeling though.

“You’re up early.” Peter nearly jumped as May’s voice broke him from his thoughts and he turned to face her, trying to keep his guilt off his face. “And you made coffee. And cleaned.” May continued, a questioning look on her face as she took in the scrubbed kitchen and gurgling coffee pot. “Something wrong?” she asked finally, leaning against the kitchen counter and folding her arms across her chest. Peter put on his most innocent face.

“No, not at all. Just…well. I’m a little nervous that you’re going to be gone so long.” Technically not a lie. Peter always felt a little anxious on the rare times May had to go out of town. “But I’m super grateful you’re letting me stay here with Ned. It’s really awesome of you, May.” Peter added, not wanting her to change her mind and call Mr. Stark to come pick him up. Peter wasn’t sure if his aunt would buy his story and for a tense second, he had thought she saw right through him. But then his aunt softened her stance and stood upright, looking at him through tender eyes. She walked close enough that she could reach him and lightly ruffled his hair.

“Oh sweetie. It’ll be fine. I’m not going to be away for too long and you and Ned will probably have so much fun you’ll hardly notice I’m gone.” She smiled then and Peter couldn’t help but return it. Aunt May’s smiles were always infectious. She ruffled his hair again for good measure. “Now, put that sponge away and leave my poor stove alone.” Peter feigned annoyance at her but he threw the sponge back into the sink while May made her way to the coffee pot.

“When’s Ned coming, again?” She asked absentmindedly as she suspiciously sniffed the coffee. She was always wary of Peter anywhere near the coffeepot ever since Peter first tried to make her and Uncle Ben coffee back when he was still in elementary school and had thought surprising them with breakfast that he had made by himself was a good idea. In his defense, he had made it exactly as he had seen Uncle Ben do it before but it had gotten cold and he wanted to reheat it. He hadn’t known boiling it on the stove would make it taste like the waters of hell. And it had been years ago. May really didn’t need to check it _every_ time.

“Coffee’s fine, May, I promise. And Ned said he’d get here around 8:30ish so you’ll have plenty of time to lecture us before Bev comes to drive you to the airport.” Peter hoped he managed to hide the way his heart thumped in his chest at the reminder that Ned was coming. May didn’t seem to have noticed as she grabbed her usual mug from the cabinet and began pouring herself some of the coffee.

“Do you want me to pour you any?” She asked. Peter shook his head. He really didn’t think coffee was going to help his nerves at all and he needed to at least have a semblance of calm or May could call the whole thing off. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to find the courage to try to put himself in a situation like this with Ned again if it fell through this time. Peter decided to distract himself by getting the milk out for May. She smiled at him in thanks and poured a splash into her cup before handing the carton back to him.

“Not bad.” She told him, only half-teasing, as she took a sip of her coffee. Peter made a face at her. It had been _years_ ago. And he hadn’t asked them to drink it all as fast as possible to spare his feelings just to end up feeling sick. Honestly. “Anyway. I’m not going to lecture you guys,” May started, bringing Peter’s attention back to their actual conversation. “I trust you. I just want to set some simple guidelines down. You know, just some normal rules,” May gestured with her free hand. “Don’t stay up all night on school nights, try to order healthy food at least once. Make sure the mail comes in and the garbage goes out. Keep Mrs. O’Nealy away from my magazines. Don’t set the apartment on fire doing science experiments in the oven. Don’t use the good cups for chemical reactions. Don’t take my vacuum apart for spare parts. Don’t hack into a multimillion dollar super-suit to disable safety protocols. You know, normal rules.” May was smiling slightly over her coffee, so Peter knew she was mostly teasing. Still, he found himself feeling a little defensive.

“We never used your _good_ glasses for chemical reactions!” Unfortunately, he couldn’t deny the rest of it. She was right about it all other than that they hadn’t taken the vacuum apart for spare parts but because they had gotten the bright idea to watch some old ‘80’s horror show that had featured a vacuum-monster hunting people when they were nine and it had terrorized them enough that they hadn’t been able to sleep knowing May’s vacuum was sitting in the hall closet, fully functional. Peter and Ned had sworn they would take that fear to the grave rather than tell May what had really happened.

May laughed in response and set her coffee down. “And I’m just hoping to keep it that way. I want to come home to a fully-intact apartment and a fully-intact nephew. Now, how about we set aside all the rules for when Ned gets here and make some breakfast instead? I’ve already packed everything up so I’ve got plenty of time to kill.” Peter smiled and nodded. It had been their ritual for as long as Peter had lived with May that breakfast was hot and homemade on Saturday mornings as that had been the only day that both May and Ben had off to spend with Peter. The fact that May was willing to continue the tradition even when she was leaving town made Peter feel warm inside and helped to dispel some of the nerves he felt about her leaving and Ned coming.

They busied themselves then in a blur of preparation and mess-making as May began to make pancakes from scratch and Peter helped. May might have been a terrible cook on almost every level, but breakfast she had a knack for and pancakes were her trademark. Twenty minutes and one minor battle with the flour later, Peter was grabbing the syrup and butter as May set down a towering plate of pancakes in the center of their table. It was nice, having a bit of time with his aunt before she left. Peter knew he had been awfully distracted the last few weeks with all the Ned stuff and keeping it all a secret from her had made Peter feel distant from his aunt in a way that he hadn’t since she had found him in his Spider-Man suit. Bantering and chatting with her while they made and ate breakfast together made him feel normal for the first time since he had realized how bad he had it for Ned. It also made Peter feel confident that he could tell Ned because he knew, even if Ned’s reaction was less than ideal, May would be there for him when she came home and she could make anything feel okay again.

The time passed quickly once they had eaten and a knock came to the door while Peter was washing up the last of the flour off the counter. His heart fluttered in his chest when May opened it and he heard Ned greeting her cheerfully. All at once, everything came back and Peter felt himself heating up a little. He couldn’t believe that he was going through with this. Maybe he should just keep quiet, have a normal weekend with Ned and tell him another time. Or never tell him at all.

But then Ned was walking into the kitchen with a large grin on his face. He was wearing the shirt Peter had gotten him for Christmas – black with the Star Wars Periodic Table splayed across the front - and the sight of Ned smiling at Peter and wearing clothes the other boy had bought for him caused all the doubt to fly from his head. Peter returned Ned’s smile with a bright one of his own as his resolve cemented. He would not make it through this weekend without telling Ned how he felt. Regardless of what the other’s boy reaction was, Peter had to do it. As soon as he found the perfect way.

“Dude, this weekend is gonna be epic!” Ned said in lieu of a greeting, excitement evident in his voice. Peter’s grin widened but before he could respond, May, who had followed Ned in from the entryway, interrupted.

“Not _too_ epic, right boys?” Both boys immediately looked at her with their most innocent expressions.

“Of course not!” They chimed simultaneously.

“We’ll be on our best behavior, May!” Peter added, ignoring the little flutter of guilt than ran through him. He wasn’t _technically_ breaking any rules.

“I’ve heard that one before,” May retorted but there was a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“We’ve never done anything that _bad_ , May.” Ned joined in, giving May his best innocent smile.

“Yeah!” Peter chimed in. “No drinking or parties and almost no property destruction.” Ned nodded his head in agreement to Peter’s statement. May just shook her head at the boys but there was an amused smile on her face.

“You’re good kids, I trust you.” May admitted, a bit of seriousness in her tone behind her amusement. Peter could sense the but coming. “But there are a few rules I want to go over, since this the first time you’ve guys have stayed over together without any supervision.” Both boys nodded at her in understanding. Neither of them wanted to ruin the weekend before it even started. “First and foremost – there is to be no Spider-Man or Guy in the Chair while I’m gone. Not even if you see anything suspicious happening or someone who needs help; if you do see anything I want you to call the police or, if it’s more serious, Tony. You are to be normal teenagers, understood?” Ned looked almost proud that May had included him in her superhero rule and Peter couldn’t help but think he looked cute. He quickly shook out that idea with a vigorous nod of his head, hoping May just assumed it was him agreeing.

“Second, I bought plenty of groceries for you boys and I’m also leaving some money for takeout – I expect you guys to not just eat junk food while I’m gone. I know you’ll get into your games or experiments and not think about proper meals but Doritos and Pop-Tarts are not groups in the Food Pyramid and you cannot live on just them for four days.” Again, the boys just nodded, determined to prove that they would be on their best behavior. “Third, you both need to be in bed by 11 on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and your homework must be completed before any schemes. I know it’s exciting to be home alone, but me and Ned’s parents only agreed to this because we expect you guys to be responsible and that means school comes first, even if it feels like vacation.” May gave them a stern look with that one, knowing all to well that was the rule most likely to be broken. Peter and Ned just adopted their innocent faces once more, knowing full well that May was smart enough not to fall for them.

“Last rule. No parties of any sort,” Peter nearly laughed at that one. Of all the things the boys would do, that had to be the last of them. The only other person they’d invite to a party was MJ and she’d probably only show up to give them the finger in person. “And no girls or boys over.” Peter nearly jumped at May’s last rule. Did Mr. Stark tell her anything? Peter searched his aunt’s face for any clue but she was wearing the same half-stern half fond look she had adopted when she first started laying out the rules. If May thought Peter was up to anything, she had left no indication on her face.

“I think that’s the _last_ thing you have to worry about May.” Ned said, sounding a bit self-deprecatory. “It’ll be fine,” he added, flinging an arm over Peter’s shoulders. Peter tried hard to keep his cheeks from flushing. “It’ll just be a bro’s weekend!” Peter tried not to cringe at those words. He had always felt a bit weird whenever Ned would casually call him ‘bro’ but it had become nearly intolerable after he had realized how he felt. The last thing Peter wanted Ned to consider him as was a _brother_.

May didn’t seem to notice her nephew’s discomfort because she laughed a little and relaxed her posture. “I know you’ll guys will be good. Just try not to break or blow anything up, yeah? I want to come home to a working stove _and_ a functioning vacuum.” Both boys flushed at that. It had been years since they had done something foolish enough to ruin a major appliance but May had a long memory for things like that. Especially if they included a story she could use for embarrassing the both of them.

May’s phone bleeped and she pulled it out of her pocket. “That’s Bev downstairs. Guess I better be heading down.” She made to head to her bedroom, where her suitcase still lay, but she stopped to shoot one last look at the two boys. Peter could see that, through her joking veneer, his aunt was truly concerned about leaving the boys alone. It was both a little exasperating – they weren’t _children_ anymore – and comforting – it always felt nice to have someone care enough to be worried even when they knew it would be alright.

“I’ll help you bring your suitcase down.” Peter offered, wanting a minute alone to say goodbye to his aunt. He knew Ned wasn’t like Flash or any of the other jerks in their class who would make some rude comment about Peter being sappy or girly but he still wanted a little privacy saying goodbye. Judging from the quick look of relief that had flitted across May’s face, his aunt felt the same. He darted past her and Ned and into her bedroom to grab her suitcase and purse. The purse he handed to her once he reemerged into the kitchen but he kept a hold on the suitcase.

“Have a safe trip, May! I hope your conference thingy is super informative and fun!” Ned said with a warm smile. May returned it and gently patted his shoulder.

“Thank you, Ned. I hope you and Peter have lots of _safe_ fun. I expect you to keep him out of trouble.” Peter scoffed quietly at that. He was just as responsible as Ned was. Sure, he had been the one to pioneer most of their more risky endeavors, but Ned had definitely started a good amount of them.

“Of course, May.” Ned responded, amusement clear in his tone as he shot a smug look at Peter. “I’ll make sure Peter’s on his best behavior.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” May responded, an obvious teasing tone in her voice as she also shot Peter a look. “God knows Peter needs someone to keep him behaving.” Peter didn’t know what he had done to deserve this teasing but he decided to be the mature one of the three by sticking his tongue out at the both of them. They responded to him by laughing.

“Safe travels.” Ned said again, once he and May had stopped chuckling.

“Thank you, Ned, I’ll see you when I get back.” May and Ned shared a small wave and then May and Peter were heading to the door. Peter didn’t see him do it but he knew Ned well enough that he was sure the other boy had gone to move his bag into Peter’s room the moment they had left the kitchen. He pointedly ignored the way his heart skipped a bit at the idea that they would be sharing a bedroom for the next four nights as he followed May out the front door.

They went down the elevator and out of the apartment building in a companionable silence. Peter quickly spotted Bev’s beat up sedan on the other side of the road – how she had managed to find a parking spot that close he had no idea but he decided not to question it. Much like a gift horse, one should never look at an available parking spot in the city too closely.

“Well.” May said, turning to him. The anxiousness was back in her expression and Peter felt a little guilty. He was being a bit selfish, asking May to let him stay in the city when he knew she would feel much better if she had left him in Mr. Stark’s care. It was something he felt he had to do, but that didn’t make him feel any better about it.

“It’ll all be fine, May.” He told her. “We got this,” he smiled at her then but May didn’t return it. Instead, her face was scrunched into a worried frown and it was obvious that she had been hiding a lot of her trepidation before. Peter could hardly blame her – a lot of things had gone down in the past year when he had been out of May’s sight and although he didn’t plan on stealing Captain America’s shield, accidently bombing a National Landmark or falling into a large pool of water, he could understand her concern.

“If _anything_ happens-” May started. Peter placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

“Call the Leeds for anything normal. Anything strange, call Mr. Stark. I got this, May. Me and Ned are just going to play video games and binge watch Netflix all weekend, nothing’s going to happen. You go learn about gross medical stuff and drink a bunch of weird colored cocktails at the social hours. Have _fun_.” May laughed then, a little laugh that didn’t completely dispel her anxiety but definitely seemed to lighten it. She pulled Peter into a hug then and he squeezed her tightly.

“Larb you,” she said into his ear and Peter couldn’t help but laugh.

“Larb you, too.” He responded once she’d released him. She smiled again before grabbing her suitcase. Peter was reminded briefly of the times she had left before, when he had been younger and Uncle Ben had held him up on his shoulders to wave at her across the street. He remembered what May used to say to him then and he couldn’t help but repeat it, a dorky grin on his face. “See you later Alligator!”

May grinned back at him. “In a while, Crocodile!” She replied before turning to cross the street. Peter watched as she crossed the street to Bev’s car. The older woman, a friend of May’s from work, got out of the car to open the trunk of the car and Peter waved at her. Bev waved back with a smile before both women disappeared into the car. Peter waited until they had carefully pulled out of the parking spot and disappeared down the street before turning to return to the apartment.

Now that May was gone, Peter’s mind returned to what he had been focused on before she had woken up and by the time Peter had made it out of the elevator and back before his front door, he was a bundle of nerves once more. Behind that door was Ned, most likely tinkering with something in Peter’s room. Ned, who was going to spend four unsupervised nights sleeping in Peter’s bedroom with him. Well, not _with_ him. It wasn’t like the boys were going to share a bed or anything – that would just be weird. Because they were friends; at least until Peter dropped a bomb on their decade long friendship. They might not be friends at all when this was all over.

Peter pushed that thought away quickly. Even if Ned didn’t feel the same way, he wasn’t just going to throw away their best friend status. And Peter was sure that he could live with just being friends with Ned. It was the keeping it all a secret aspect that was driving him up the wall. He could handle the rest. Probably. Most likely. He was Spider-Man, he could definitely handle practically anything.

Feeling slightly reassured, although still fairly jumpy with nerves, Peter finally reached out and opened the door to his apartment. It was quiet inside and one quick look into the living room and kitchen proved that his assumption was right. Ned must have been hanging out in Peter’s room. Peter tried to control the flushing of his cheeks as he walked towards his bedroom. Ned had been in his bedroom lots of times. Just because he had a crush on the guy didn’t mean he had to make it weird.

The door to his room was ajar and Peter could see Ned sitting on his bed, flipping through a book that he must have packed with him. It was a sight Peter had seen many times before but it set his heart fluttering now. Ned seemed to sense that someone was watching him because he looked up from his book. Peter instantly felt awkward – he was _staring_ at his best friend in the doorway. That was super creepy. But if Ned thought the same, he didn’t show it. Instead he smiled warmly up at Peter and set his book down.

“May gone?” He asked. Peter nodded.

“Heading to the airport now. She’ll probably call me before she gets on the plane, though.” May always called Peter right before the plane took off and immediately after it landed. When Peter had been younger, the idea of May or Ben flying had terrified him and the conversations were a necessity to keep him from worrying too much. Now they were more formality than anything else, but he knew May would never not call.

“Cool, cool.” Ned said, leaning back onto Peter’s bed slightly. Peter tried not focus on the way that Ned’s shirt had briefly ridden up, exposing a thin strip of his dark brown skin before he tugged it back down. “You alright?” Ned asked, evidently picking up on Peter’s nerves. Peter averted his eyes briefly, fighting a blush from erupting on his cheeks.

“Yeah man, I’m fine. Just… you know, a little nervous about May getting on a plane.” It wasn’t quite a lie - even after flying to Berlin, planes still freaked Peter out a little and Ned knew what had happened to Peter’s parents so he seemed all too ready to accept the excuse.

“Her flight’s to Boston, right? That’s only about an hour, she’ll be alright.”

“You’re right. I just worry.” Peter replied, looking back at his friend once he was sure his cheeks weren’t about to erupt bright red. He felt guilty, letting Ned reassure him for something almost imaginary. But it wasn’t like he could just tell Ned he was more worried that he was going to destroy their friendship than he was something happening on his aunt’s flight. He didn’t know the best way to go about telling Ned the truth but he knew blurting it out in the first ten minutes they were alone was not it. “It really isn’t a big deal,” Peter stated, talking more to reassure himself than to indicate to Ned that he was fine. He smiled at his friend then. “And – we have the place to ourselves for four days! How _awesome_ is that?” He said, excitement clear in his tone. He was honestly looking forward to spending time with Ned, he always looked forward to spending time with Ned. He didn’t need to tell the boy right away, anyway; they could enjoy the first day as normal friends. He had three other days to tell Ned.

Peter wasn’t procrastinating. Not at all. There was just no good reason to tell Ned immediately.

“This weekend is going to literally be the best. I mean, it would be way cooler if you could do Spider-Man stuff but we can totally rock it anyway – video games, movies, science and Legos!” Ned replied, his excitement obvious as he jumped up from Peter’s bed.

“Like back in the day!” Peter responded with a laugh.

“Absolutely!” Ned held out his hand and Peter instinctively reached out with his one. Feeling Ned’s fingers slide against his own as they did their handshake sent a shiver down Peter’s spine but he pushed it aside. It was going to be a Normal Friendship Day, even if it killed Peter. “I found a new video on a bunch of at-home science experiments we haven’t tried yet, if you wanna do that first? It’ll kill time for May to call without being too distracting.”

“How many of them involve fire?” Peter asked, just a bit hesitant. May would kill the both of them if they burned down the kitchen before she had even gotten on the plane. Ned shrugged his concern away.

“Only like two of them. Well, maybe three. But it’s not very big flames. And none of them involve the oven!” Peter thought it over. May hadn’t outright forbid any experimentation when she talked to Peter before breakfast. And they were careful, responsible teenagers. They weren’t going to destroy anything; especially with Youtube science experiments. Those were almost always geared towards children and involved simple reactions that were fun to watch. Peter and Ned were both aceing their AP Chemistry class; they could definitely handle some at-home chemistry experiments without destroying anything.

Roughly forty-five minutes later, Peter and Ned were standing in the kitchen, wide-eyed and a little panicked, staring at the mess of grey goo and broken glass splattered everywhere.

“Oh my God,” Peter said.

“Holy shit.” Ned said at the same time. Both boys looked at each other. Then they looked back at the mess. Peter was really hoping it was his just his imagination but the goo seemed to be _growing_. And it was _everywhere_. Splattered across the counter and down the countertops, all the way to the floor. Some had gotten some distance in the initial explosion and had made it across to the kitchen table and all over the oven door he had scrubbed off just a few hours ago. Some of it had even made it to the ceiling

“It’s not too bad.” Ned said after a moment. They both watched as a large drop of the goo plopped down from the ceiling.

“That was one of May’s favorite vases!” Peter pointed to a shard sitting on the counter. It had once been the bottom of a crystal glass vase May had adored. She was going to _kill_ them.

“We’ll find a replacement.” Ned responded immediately, shooting a quick, panicked glance up at Peter. “Dude, she’ll never know.” Peter opened his mouth to respond but before he could get any words out, his phone rang. His heart dropped, knowing instinctively who it was before he had dug it out from his pocket. May’s smiling face flashed across the screen.

“ _Dude_!” Peter wasn’t sure why he had whispered but Ned also seemed to think that was the appropriate response because he whispered back.

“You gotta answer it! She’s going to think we’re up to something if you don’t!”

“We _blew_ up the kitchen!” Peter responded, waving his hand frantically. Another large goop fell from the ceiling and onto his outstretched arm, enunciating his point.

“We didn’t blow up the _kitchen_! We blew up a science experiment _in_ the kitchen!” Ned retorted, echoing Peter’s own hand gestures back to him.

“Dude, I don’t think my aunt is going to care about the _semantics_ here!”

“Just answer the phone! I’ll start cleaning up!” Ned walked over to the sink then and grabbed the roll of paper towels sitting on their holder on the counter. “Act normal!” Ned hissed and gestured once more for Peter to pick up the phone before it went to voicemail.

“Hey Aunt May! Got on the plane alright?” Peter asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as Ned began scooping up the gray mess with paper towels carefully, mindful of the shards of glass embedded in it.

“Just about to,” May’s voice sounded slightly far-off, as though she wasn’t holding the phone quite to her mouth. Peter assumed she was balancing it between her shoulder and head as she gathered up her bags. “They just called us to line up, so I thought I’d give you the call before we got on the plane.”

“That’s great May, glad you and Bev made it there sa-” Peter’s voice cut off for a moment as Ned led out an audible curse as he made contact with one of the shards. Peter watched as Ned withdrew his hand from the goo and it came out red. Peter’s eyes widened in panic as Ned quickly grabbed a bunch of towels and pressed it against his palm.

“Everything okay, Peter?” May’s voice brought his attention back to her.

“Uh-” Peter ran over to the sink, careful not to slip on the puddles of goo and turned the water on. He gestured frantically for Ned to clean off his hand. “Yeah, everything’s fine May! Ned just stubbed his toe is all.” Peter quickly lied as he watched his friend wince as he put his hand under the running water.

“You guys aren’t sliding around in your socks again, are you? You know you nearly took out one of the plants last time!” May’s voice sounded both amused and annoyed at the same time.

“No, nope. Definitely not doing that! We’re…uh – we’ve decided to play Super Mario Smash but we wanted to hook it up to the big TV in the living room. Ned was carrying all the stuff and didn’t see the leg of the coffee table.” Peter shut off the water and handed more paper towels to Ned. He couldn’t tell if the cut was still bleeding or not but he thought the extra towels wouldn’t hurt.

“Okay, as long as everything’s alright.” May sounded a little unsure but Peter could hear other people moving around in the background and knew the plane must have officially started boarding. He seized his chance.

“Everything’s perfectly fine! Have a safe flight! Love you!” Peter heard her tell him she loved him too and then he quickly hung up and turned fully to Ned. “Dude, oh my God, are you okay? How bad is it? Do you need stitches?” He was panicking a bit, he knew. But he couldn’t help it - although Peter handled his own injuries just fine, seeing loved ones hurt in front of him, in with minor injuries, always freaked him out.

“Nah, it’s alright. I think it’s mostly stopped bleeding.” Ned responded, pulling off the paper towel to look at his hand. The cut ran across the length of his palm – Ned must have accidently gripped a piece of the vase when he went to scoop up the mess on the counter– but it was a thin cut and didn’t seem particularly deep. There were some beads of blood coming anew but it was definitely a smaller amount than Peter had expected. Still, he grabbed Ned’s other hand and pressed it back down gently against the cut to stem the rest of the blood.

“Wait here, I’ll go grab the first aid kit from the bathroom.” Ned nodded and Peter turned to run to the bathroom. He knew it wasn’t a big deal, the cut probably wouldn’t even scar, but the image of Ned’s blood staining his palm had him feeling abnormally cold and he rushed to grab the first aid kit May kept under the bathroom sink and get back to Ned.

If this was in anyway how May felt whenever Peter came home mildly injured from his patrols, he owed her a huge apology. The feeling _sucked_.

Ned was obediently standing by the sink when Peter returned. He set the first-aid kit on a spot of the counter mostly untouched by the goo and opened it up. May had taken to keeping the kit very well stocked after she became aware of her nephew’s extracurricular activities and it was brimming with disinfectants, band-aids, rolls of gauze and medical tape. Peter grabbed a disinfecting wipe and turned back to his friend.

“Let me see it again.” He told Ned, disinfectant in hand.

“It’s really not that big of a deal, man.” Ned told him but he obediently showed Peter his hand again. Peter didn’t say anything, just gently grabbed his friend’s hand and pulled it up for a closer look. The cut was shallow but long and Peter knew he’d have to wrap it with the gauze rather than try and use some of the band-aids to cover it.

“Dude, you must have grabbed the largest piece of glass left. How did you miss it?” Peter tried to inject a teasing tone to his voice as he gently wiped the cut.

“I was a bit distracted listening to you totally _blow_ it with May.” Ned shot back but there was no heat to his voice. “Honestly, how on earth did you think you could keep Spider-Man a secret? You’re like, the world’s _worst_ liar, dude!” Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes but couldn’t help the indignant huff that came from his mouth.

“I am _not_! I’ve totally kept Spider-Man a secret!”

“Only ‘cause everyone around us who doesn't already know are unobservant idiots.” Ned responded as he watched Peter set the wipe down and grab a roll of gauze from the kit.

“You’ve been hanging out with MJ too much.” Peter told him as he held the other boy’s wrist gently in one hand and began wrapping the gauze around his palm with the other. Ned snorted.

“She’s got some good points. Girl is terrifying _and_ smart.” Peter couldn’t argue with that.

“Well, even if I am a terrible liar, I think May was distracted enough that she’s not going to question the excuse I gave her. Hold down the gauze.” Peter waited until Ned had placed his good hand flat against the gauze before he ripped it one-handedly. “As long as we get it all cleaned up and find a replacement vase, she’ll never know.” Peter, still holding onto Ned’s wrist, reached blindly into the kit and pulled out the medical tape. “Keep your hand up.” He told the other boy as he removed his grip on his wrist to rip the tape from the roll.

“I’m pretty sure that’s what I was telling you before May called.” Ned said as he watched Peter carefully tape around the gauze.

“I was panicking, dude! You can’t hold that against me! We’d been home alone an hour and already destroyed the kitchen! Not exactly a good sign.” Peter finished with the tape and traced his finger carefully around to check that he had secured it. “Make a fist and then unclench it.” Ned did so and Peter checked around the edges again until he was satisfied that they would stay in place.

“It’s not _destroyed_.” Ned told him, letting his injured hand drop to his side. “We just gotta finish clean up and it’ll be good as new. And now we know that doubling the Elephant Toothpaste experiment is a really bad idea!” He said, sounding rather cheerful for a boy who had slit his hand open cleaning the “not-destroyed” kitchen.

“ _You_ aren’t cleaning anything. I’ll finish cleaning it all up. You go put this away and then look up places to buy crystal vases.” Peter shoved the first aid kit into Ned’s good hand.

“Dude! That’s not fair to you, it’s a huge mess! I got to help clean it up.” Ned protested. Peter shot him a severe look.

“Nope. You’re injured, so you sit out.” Peter blatantly ignored the way saying that made him feel like Mr. Stark lecturing him as he pushed a still protesting Ned out of the kitchen. Maybe he owed the billionaire an apology as well. “No arguments! You’ll be better at tracking down a replacement for the vase anyway. Aunt May got it at some quirky second-hand store, I think. I’ll handle the goop.” He pushed Ned one more time down the hall and the other boy acquiesced, heading into the bathroom to put the kit away.

Peter breathed a little deeper once the other boy was out of sight. That hadn’t been the first time he had seen Ned injured, of course. They had grown up together. Peter had been the one to help Ned limp to his mother after he had broken his foot falling out of a tree when they were ten and that had easily been the worst injury his friend had dealt with. But there was something about bandaging up the cut himself, the way he had to hold onto Ned’s wrist and feel around his palm with his own fingers, that made Peter feel anxious and embarrassed all at once. He had even been tempted to brush a kiss on the gauze, the way May had done when Peter was very small. And that would have been an awful and mortifying way for Ned to find out how Peter felt.

Ned was leaving the bathroom now and Peter quickly turned back to the mess of the kitchen so his friend couldn’t see his flushed cheeks. The other boy seemed oblivious as he grabbed his laptop – they had at least had the forethought to leave that in the living room once they had gotten the instructions from the video so it had been spared from the goo – and settled down on the couch to look up crystal vases. Peter decided to focus on cleaning the kitchen. He didn’t know if the goo would harden or anything but he thought it was best to get it off as soon as possible.

Thinking about how easy it had been for Ned to get cut, Peter bypassed the paper towels and instead went for the drawer of kitchen towels by the oven. He grabbed some of the older ones that were frayed around the edges and began using them to scoop up the goo on the counters. He would just throw them away when he was done and hope May didn’t notice them missing. He worked quickly and most of the counters were cleaned of at least the major piles – he’d have to go back and actually scrub them to get all of it off – when Ned spoke from the living room.

“Do you know how many people make crystal vases? Why does there need to be this many? That is _too_ many!” Peter glanced over at Ned. The boy had placed his computer on the coffee table and was typing on it with his good hand while his other was lying palm up on his knee. Peter could only see half of the other boy’s face but he could tell Ned was scrunching up his nose. He always did that when he was mildly annoyed by something. Peter looked away again, feeling a little warm. He got down and began wiping down on the cupboard doors as a distraction. He knew Ned was mostly just talking to himself out loud and wasn’t expecting a response. If he was, he would have called Peter’s name.

The cupboards were cleaned off quickly, as was the front of the oven. Peter had nicked one of his fingers on a tiny piece of glass while he’d been wiping up the last from the kitchen table but it had closed over nearly as quickly as it had come so he considered himself mostly successful in escaping Ned’s fate. All that was left of the major cleaning was the floor and the ceiling.Peter tossed out the third used towel – he hated the wastefulness but he didn’t dare risk rinsing them in the sink or putting them in the washer in case the goo was strong enough to damage them – and grabbed a fourth before he turned towards the ceiling.

It would be easier to use his webs and sling himself up to wipe off the ceiling but he had promised May no webs in the apartment except for his own bedroom after he had nearly swung into the TV when he had been messing around and he figured that he and Ned had put themselves in enough trouble, so he settled for climbing up onto the counters and then using the wall to crawl onto the ceiling. It wasn’t the most comfortable position to clean in, but Peter stuck himself to the ceiling with one hand and his feet while he began wiping with his free hand. He didn’t bother collecting any of the goop into his towel but let it fall to the ground. A steady pile was growing on the floor but it was better than having to crawl back down and get a fresh towel.

“I think I found it!” Ned called out when Peter was just about done with the ceiling. “Peter come tell me if this is the righ- dude are you really on the _ceiling_ right now?” Peter startled at Ned’s voice and dropped his towel. He grimaced as it fell into the large heap of goo and spattered more of it onto the bottom of the cupboards. He’d have to redo them now.

“Um… I have to clean the ceiling somehow.” Peter responded to Ned, as if it was the most obvious thing. Ned just shook his head in amazement. Peter felt slightly uncomfortable as he unstuck himself feet first so that he could fall lightly onto the ground. Ned had seen him climb before, of course, but this had probably been one of the only times he had seen Peter stationary on the ceiling and not hanging on one of his webs. It felt natural to Peter but it must have still been a strange sight for his friend.

“Dude, you’re amazing.” Ned said, his announcement apparently forgotten in lieu of fanboying over his friend. Peter rubbed his neck, feeling very warm with Ned’s attention on him. It wasn’t the first time Ned had fawned over any of Peter’s abilities but it made him feel twice as awkward to have Ned’s attention on him than it had felt two weeks ago. It felt nice, too, that Ned thought anything about Peter was cool but it mostly made Peter want to blush violently and hide himself. Peter sincerely hoped that sort of feeling went away and was not a permanent side effect of crushing on someone because it really sucked.

“You said you might have found a replacement for the vase?” He prompted, hoping to distract his friend from the ceiling incident. His words seemed to do the trick because Ned nodded at him and gestured for him to come look at the computer. Peter walked over and leaned down, trying and failing not to notice how close his face was to Ned’s as he inspected the vase Ned had pulled up. The vase was tall with a rounded body with a triangular pattern etched into it and a tapered neck.

“It’s perfect! Dude, you’re _awesome_!” Peter bumped his shoulder into Ned’s, grinning. Ned’s skills on the computer never ceased to amaze him – how the boy had managed to find the same vase they had destroyed in the kitchen without anything to go on beyond what it looked like in such a short period of time was a mystery to him.

“Says the guy who was _literally_ walking on the ceiling,” Ned replied, but he was smiling and obviously pleased that he had found the right one. Peter looked at the rest of the site. The store selling it was just two Subway stops and a few blocks away and it had the vase in stock currently. Peter and Ned could head out after May’s second phone call and then she would never know they had broken it in the first place. They might actually pull this off.

Then Peter saw the price. And choked.

“$150? For a _flower_ vase?” He gestured at the computer screen, hoping the price would change magically. Unfortunately, the little black numbers stubbornly stayed the same.

“May probably got it really discounted since she bought it second-hand. We could try looking at a couple thrift stores but I don’t think we’re going to find it. This is our best bet to have it for sure before she gets back.” Ned responded, although Peter could tell from his voice that he wasn’t pleased either. They had the money, technically. Peter and Ned had a joint savings account in the form of the Iron Man shaped piggy bank Peter had in his bedroom that they used to fund their Lego obsession and other ventures. They both contributed half of their allowance into it each week and they were currently saving up for a Harry Potter Diagon Alley Lego set they had found on Amazon. This would set them back at least month.

“This sucks.” Peter said and without thinking, dropped his head onto Ned’s shoulder. It was something he had done many times before – when he was upset about something Peter generally wanted touch and laying his head on Ned’s shoulder was a common and familiar way he accomplished that. Ned’s hand had automatically come up to pat Peter sympathetically and for a moment it just felt like it always had, a familiar and comforting gesture. But then Peter, when his brain finally caught up to the actions of his body, froze. He could feel the soft warmth of Ned’s shoulder on his cheek. Ned’s scent – a mixture of clean laundry and citrus body wash – was nearly overwhelming. Peter had always thought Ned smelled nice and had gone out of his way to steal Ned’s body wash on more than one occasion when he had stayed over at the other boy’s house – much to Ned’s annoyance and his mother’s amusement – but now, he was hyper-aware of it. As he was everything else about Ned since his talk with Karen and then Mr. Stark.

Peter stood up straight a little too abruptly and Ned gave him a confused look. Peter felt his cheeks grow warm. He was acting weird, he knew – there was no reason for him to pull away from Ned’s touch like that, they had always been tactile friends to the point of being mocked by more than a few of their classmates over the years – but he couldn’t help it. Everything felt different, like each touch or smile or acknowledgement from Ned was being shown in a new light. It was almost overwhelming.

“I-I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen.” Peter said, flushing dark as he stuttered. “I’ll – um, I’ll do that and then we can leave to get the vase after May calls again.” Peter darted back into the kitchen then, leaving Ned seated awkwardly on the couch.

“Okay.” Ned said. Peter could hear the confusion in his voice but didn’t allow himself to turn back to see Ned’s expression or try to make some excuse. Peter knew that if he opened his mouth now, all of the truth was going to come out and he wasn’t quite ready. It was not the right time. One didn’t just simply run away from a friend’s touch and then admit that they liked them. That was definitely not the best way to tell him. “I’ll just…um…grab the Iron-Bank and write down the address for the place, I guess.” Peter busied himself grabbing a new towel as Ned stood up and walked past the kitchen to reach his bedroom.

He had thought today could be a Normal Friend Day, but he was beginning to realize that there would probably never be a Normal Friend Day again. Not when everything they normally did sent Peter into a frenzy of heart flutters and red cheeks. Ned definitely thought something was up with Peter now and it wouldn’t be too long before he began asking questions. Peter would probably spill everything to Ned if the boy just asked, but he didn’t want to just blurt it out to him. He wanted more control than that. And Ned deserved more than just having Peter’s feelings thrown at him casually.

He needed to come up with an actual plan now, one that was more detailed than just forcing the two boys together for a weekend and hoping for the best. Mr. Stark’s advice came to Peter’s mind then, as well as some old advice May had told him when she first given him the talk about dating and relationships. Not much of their advice applied to Ned but surely some of it could be useful. What had they said to do?

Show his appreciation for them – Mr. Stark had suggested giving expensive jewelry and although there was no way Peter would do that there were certainly other ways he could show his appreciation for Ned. Maybe he could find something to buy him over the weekend. He had some pocket money left from the half of his allowance that didn’t go into the Iron-Bank.

Aunt May had said to be spontaneous and there were very few people who could pull off something spectacular with very little planning or even thinking like Peter could. He could surely come up with something for them over the weekend that he could use to impress Ned and then tell him how he felt afterwards.

They had both said to be romantic – Mr. Stark had suggested lavish trips away together and dinners at fancy restaurants whose names Peter couldn’t pronounce while Aunt May had suggested going out on dates during things that both liked to do. Peter couldn’t just take Ned on a _date_ but there must be other ways to be romantic and they were technically already on a trip together. If one counted a situation where they never left the city but one of them had an overnight bag and they were alone together as a trip. Doing things they liked was nominally one of the goals of this weekend. Peter could plan an adventure – not a date – for the two of them and then tell Ned afterwards. It was still not much of a plan but the start of one was forming in Peter’s mind. He could do this. He had to do this. Because he knew no matter what now, there was no way that he could just go back to being friends with Ned and he couldn’t procrastinate telling the other boy anymore. Even if Peter felt itchy and anxious at the thought of Ned rejecting him, he knew that he couldn’t just pretend that they were normal friends, not even for one more day. It had only been a few hours since May had left and Peter was already nearly a nervous disaster. So he would follow Mr. Stark and May’s advice. He would woo Ned and then tell the other boy the truth about how he felt. And then he would hope for, if not the best scenario, at least not the worst.

But first, Peter thought, turning his gaze back up to the ceiling where a good amount of the goop still remained, he had to finish cleaning up and then go buy a new vase so May wouldn’t kill him when she came back.

After all, once this disaster was cleaned up, it was unlikely they would get into another one.


	2. Chapter 2

Peter had made a plan.

It was the second day of him and Ned having the apartment to themselves. Peter and Ned had narrowly avoided complete disaster and May’s wrath the day before - the kitchen was now mostly spotless (there was a slightly discolored spot on the ceiling that had refused to come off but other than that it had been successfully cleaned) and a new, shiny crystal vase had found a spot in May’s sideboard. After they had gone and bought the vase, Peter had put a complete stop to all chemical experiments and the rest of the day had been spent marathoning Star Wars and eating junk food.

It had been peaceful and companionable and Peter had prided himself on not embarrassing himself further in front of Ned – he had managed to sit next to him on the couch with only a bowl of their popcorn and M&M mix between them without totally freaking out. Ned hadn’t asked him why he had been acting so strange after laying his head on his shoulder and Peter had handled getting ready for bed with Ned in the same room with minimal fuss. He had even managed to wish Ned a good night without overthinking the fact that they were lying in beds just a few feet apart in complete darkness. Altogether, Peter considered it to have been a mostly successful day.

Once Ned had fallen into a deep enough sleep – he had waited until he could hear his friend’s breathing settle into a slow, steady rhythm – Peter had slipped silently from the top bunk to the floor and then out of the bedroom, only stopping to grab one of his notebooks and a pencil from his desk. He had then sat in the living room until the early morning, writing down any ideas that came to him on how best to woo Ned. He had come up with a step by step plan that combined Mr. Stark’s advice and advice May had given to him over the years. Peter was a bit proud of it – it was an _actual_ thought out plan – and although he was still incredibly nervous about telling Ned the plan at least gave him a little confidence that he wasn’t going about the whole thing wrong. He was determined that, this time, he would not just blurt out that he liked his crush without even looking at them. He would follow his plan.

Peter should have known from his superhero experience that plans never _ever_ work as expected.

The first step in the plan was to make Ned breakfast. It combined the spontaneity that May had encouraged with a (on a much smaller scale) gesture of appreciation that Mr. Stark had suggested. It was the perfect place to start, which was how Peter found himself, for the second morning in a row, working in the kitchen with the early morning light. Peter had stayed awake until four making his plan and had woken up at half past seven, making this the second day in a row that he had gotten very little sleep. He didn’t mind though – he had been much too nervous to sleep and too excited to feel tired anyway. His time was better spent setting up breakfast for Ned than it was lying on the top bunk and trying not to think about his best friend in the bed below him.

Peter didn’t know much about cooking beyond some basics like grilled cheese and using the microwave, but he had helped May make breakfast many times before and figured that if even his aunt could successfully make a homemade breakfast, he could as well. She had taught him how to make her pancakes before but Ned was one of the few people in the world who didn’t like very sweet things in the morning so Peter had settled on making omelets. He had never made them before but he had watched May make scrambled eggs and he figured it was basically the same process, just a little fancier.

When Peter opened the refrigerator, he realized May had been true to her word and had stocked it with just about all kinds of food she expected the boys to be able to make and he felt a little guilty that they had eaten none of it the day before and had instead subsisted off all the junk food they could find. This breakfast would be their redemption. Peter grabbed the eggs and cheese from the fridge but then hesitated on what other ingredients he should grab. May and him rarely made eggs when they had breakfast and they rarely ever went out for breakfast so Peter had a fairly limited experience with what went well with them. He settled for grabbing the bell peppers and spinach as well as the bacon bits Aunt May kept for macaroni and cheese nights. It was basically real bacon anyway.

Peter set everything on the counter, being extra careful not to drop the eggs. He knew from personal experience that raw eggs were one of the worst things to get off a floor and he wanted Ned to come out to a nicely made breakfast and not to him scrubbing yet another mess off the kitchen floor. Next Peter grabbed a bowl and set it down besides the carton of eggs. He had no idea how many eggs it took to make an omelet so he decided to crack them one at a time until it seemed like it would be enough to make two omelets.

The first egg Peter tried to crack he hit against the counter too hard and he grimaced when he felt the cold, gooey mess of an egg squelch through his fingers. Cursing quietly, he threw the remnants of the egg into the sink and grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the mess on the counter. The second egg he was extra careful with and managed to crack successfully and he let out a quiet little whoop as he broke it open over the bowl. A few pieces of shell fell in with the egg but Peter was unconcerned – it couldn’t be too hard to grab the little pieces out once he was finished.

Peter continued cracking until the bowl was half full, careful each time to not hit the egg overly hard. He pushed the rest of the carton to the side and pulled the bowl towards him to get a closer look inside. He had succeeded in getting all the eggs into the bowl, apart from the first, but he had been unable to prevent more shell from getting in and there were quite a few pieces scattered all throughout the eggs. Peter made a face at the bowl before turning to the silverware drawer and grabbing out a fork to pull the pieces out. He managed to get out a few of the bigger shards but the rest evaded him and were hard to see. Peter made a face at the bowl again. He had seen his aunt use her fingers before to remove egg shell but the idea of putting his own hand into the bowl of slimy egg kind of freaked him out.

Peter thought for a moment about what else he could use that would spare his fingers from a horrible, slimy fate before it hit him. If he broke the yolks and beat them into the egg whites, then the eggs would all be liquid and he could run it through a strainer to remove the rest of the shells. Knowing that he needed to be quick if he wanted to be done before Ned awoke, Peter hurried to grab a whisk and the strainer Aunt May kept in the pots and pans drawer as well as an extra bowl to fit under it. He wasted no time beating the eggs until they were a mostly uniform yellow color and poured the entire bowl full into the strainer.

That was when Peter realized his mistake. Although the eggs were liquid, they were just thick enough that they didn’t pour easily through the strainer and instead fell through by the drop. Peter grabbed his discarded fork and began pressing the eggs through the tiny holes. It took a little longer than he wanted but eventually he got most of it through the strainer, blissfully eggshell free and he set the empty bowl and strainer into the sink.

The next step, he knew, was to cut the bell pepper and the spinach up so that they would be ready to throw onto the eggs when they were almost done cooking. Peter was used to helping May with her prep work on the nights they made dinner together and he made quick work of the vegetables before setting the whole cutting board next to the stove for easy access. The knife he washed and dried before putting away – there had been enough times that either him or May had accidently nicked a finger from a knife left lying around during their more hectic dinners that he had learned to deal with the knife immediately rather than risk any injury.

Peter was feeling fairly confident as he grabbed out a small pan to cook the omelets in. Everything so far had gone pretty well and all he had left was to cook the eggs. He could already hear Ned beginning to stir in his bedroom – the other boy was always a relatively early riser and it was already half past eight so he knew that if he started them now, the first would be timed perfectly to give to Ned when he shuffled out into the kitchen. Peter grinned to himself as he thought about how surprised and – hopefully – pleased the other boy would be at the meal and quickly turned the front burner of the stove on to the highest setting to ensure the fastest possible cook.

May’s pans were all nonstick so Peter figured that he didn’t need to put anything in the pan to grease it and instead just poured half off the eggs carefully in after it had warmed up enough. The eggs hissed a little as they hit the heated pan which Peter took as a good sign. He wanted to closely monitor the eggs cooking, knowing from May how easy it was to burn something, but he quickly grew bored of watching the eggs. He figured it would probably take a little while for the eggs to cook so he decided to direct his attention to some of the dishes. He knew that if there was still a sink full of dishes when Ned came out the other boy would start washing them automatically and that would defeat Peter’s goal of doing something spontaneous and nice for him.

Peter hadn’t bothered to rinse the dishes when he first threw them into the sink and he was surprised to realize that the egg remnants on the strainer had already hardened a little around and inside the tiny holes. It was a little gross to think about but Peter quickly turned the hot water on and blasted it into the strainer, hoping to soften it up and remove most of it before he started actually cleaning it. He made sure to do the same to the empty bowl before grabbing the sponge and scrubbing them both clean. It was a little tricky to get all the egg removed from the holes of the strainer but Peter managed to get it all before he rinsed the dishes and returned to the eggs cooking in the skillet.

The eggs were a lot more solid now and the sides were puffed up, which Peter took to be a good sign. The center was still undercooked, however, so Peter grabbed a spatula to try and flip the eggs as he had seen done on the cooking shows May sometimes liked to watch.

That was when he realized he had made several mistakes at once. First, Peter had grabbed a random spatula from the drawer they were kept in, not realizing that it was part of the set of plastic frosting spatulas Bev had bought his aunt when she had tried to get May involved in her cake decorating phase. These spatulas were not heat resistant, a fact which Peter didn’t find out until after he tried to slip the spatula under the egg and its tip bent slightly from the heat. The second mistake Peter discovered was the fact that nonstick did not mean one didn’t have to use something to grease the pan, which he realized after he was unable to move any of the eggs without breaking up the delicate circle of the omelet.

Peter swore under his breath as he pulled the slightly melted spatula from the pan. Quickly he grabbed another and tried to salvage the eggs. He could still turn them into a scramble if he hurried so he threw a handful of the bell pepper and spinach in, along with some cheese and scrapped his spatula against the edges of the pan to try and pull all the egg up before it burned completely to the bottom.

This was when Peter realized his final mistake – not realizing how quickly eggs went from cooked to burnt. He hadn’t turned the stove down any which meant that the pan was still heated at the highest possible temperature and the egg that had stuck to the bottom of the pan refused to come up easily and Peter was worried that using too much strength would break the spatula, which would have been a bigger mess. It quickly went from yellow to brown to near black as the acrid smell of burnt food hit his nose. Peter swore and went to turn the stove off, accidently hitting the side of the pan in his haste.

“Oh damnit!” he swore to himself as he popped his burnt finger into his mouth and looked at the mess of yellow and brown flecked eggs still partially stuck to the pan. Obviously this batch was useless but he figured that he had enough time to toss them into the trash and begin again with the second half of the eggs before Ned emerged from his room.

“Peter?” A soft, sleepy voice called out and Peter jumped instinctively. He had been so distracted trying to salvage the eggs that he hadn’t heard Ned quietly slip out of the bedroom and pad barefoot into the kitchen. He turned to look at his friend, removing his finger from his mouth with a quick pop. Ned was standing at the end of the hallway, peering into the kitchen with sleepy eyes. He was still dressed in his pajamas – a worn t-shirt and fuzzy pajama pants that had small Stormtrooper and Darth Vader heads all over them – and his hair was mused. It was obvious that Ned had come out to the kitchen immediately after waking up and Peter felt a little guilty at the noise he must have been making.

“Um – good morning Ned!” Peter knew it wouldn’t help but he tried to position himself in front of the stove so that Ned couldn’t see the pan of burnt eggs. “Did you sleep well?” Such a stupid question. Peter could have smacked himself.

For his part, Ned seemed not to register the question completely as he tried to blink the fuzziness of sleep from his eyes. “What are you doing?” he asked, voice still a little hoarse but much clearer than when he had first spoken. He stepped further into the kitchen and Peter stepped further back towards the stove although it was fairly obvious what he had been doing. “Are you _making_ breakfast?” The other boy finally asked, coming close enough that he could try to see what was in the pan behind Peter. Peter flushed, feeling acutely embarrassed. Trust him to try to make a nice meal for Ned and end up completely failing at it. He really was related to May.

Seeing no point in lying, Peter, cheeks still pink, moved aside so Ned could clearly see the mess in the pan. “I – uh – I wanted to do something nice as a thank you for coming over and staying with me so May would let me stay but I, well, I kind of burned it a little.” Peter admitted, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. At least the slight pain from his burnt finger had faded.

“A little?” Ned asked, sounding slightly incredulous. Peter flushed again. Of course he had to mess up the first step of his plan. He had rotten luck. He watched as Ned grabbed the discarded spatula and began to poke at the eggs. They had burnt more to the bottom of the pan and he had to scrape against the pan to move them around. “Man,” he said shaking his head slightly before looking up at Peter, amusement clear in his eyes, “I appreciate the gesture and all but you _murdered_ these eggs. Like, Aunt May level murdered. Like, we should grab an empty shoebox and bury them level murdered.” Peter blushed a little more.

“Well, I didn’t think it would be that hard! All the cooking shows make it look so easy.” He added, feeling slightly helpless as he watched Ned grab the pan and scrape all its contents into the garbage can. His friend laughed in response.

“I think it’s safe to assume that it’s harder than it looks.” Ned said as he slipped the pan into the sink and turned back to look at Peter. “I really do appreciate you trying to do something nice for me man.” He added, rightfully sensing that Peter could use a little compassion. “But you know you didn’t have to, right? It’s not like hanging out with you is a chore or anything.” Peter knew that, of course. Ned was always down to hang out but he couldn’t exactly admit that he was trying to do something spontaneous and nice because Mr. Stark had said that’s what a guy should do when he liked someone. At least, he couldn’t do it after he had spectacularly failed.

“I know that. It’s just you got hurt,” Peter gestured towards Ned’s still bandaged hand, “and I just wanted to do something nice to make up for it, you know?” It was definitely a lie, but at least it was a plausible one. He did feel guilty that Ned had gotten hurt while he was on the phone, especially because he knew that if it had been his hand, it would have already healed up, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch of the truth anyway. Ned seemed to buy it anyway, because he waved Peter’s words off with his hand and was quick to reassure the other boy.

“Dude, it wasn’t your fault, you have nothing to make up for.” He said. “But it was really nice of you to think of doing something.” Ned added, obviously trying not to bring Peter down any more than he already felt after failing to make a simple breakfast. “Just next time, you know, maybe not do something that involves cooking? I don’t think that’s a skill the spider passed on to you.” He added, amusement back in his voice. Peter stuck his tongue out at him in response and Ned laughed.

“You’re the _worst_.” Peter told him, but he was smiling slightly. Ned always had a way of making him feel better no matter what was making him upset. It was a skill Peter would always love. “Move over.” He told the other boy, moving forward to take Ned’s place by the sink so that he could wash out the skillet. Ned moved just enough that Peter was the one in front of the sink but was still close enough that they were nearly touching. Peter tried very hard to ignore the warmth of his friend’s body as he turned the water on and began wiping off the excess egg from the pan but he couldn’t help the flush of pink that crept into his cheeks.

The boys quickly abandoned Peter’s poor attempt at breakfast although Peter insisted on saving all the unused food to reduce their waste which had sparked a brief debate on whether raw eggs could be saved once they were cracked that took a Google search to resolve. Peter didn’t bother trying to stop Ned from helping clean up Peter’s mess but he was adamant that Ned didn’t wash the dishes so that his bandaged hand didn’t get soaked before it was time to replace the gauze. Once the clean up was completed, Peter pulled down a box of cereal from the cupboard while Ned grabbed out the milk and the boys settled down on the table with their bowls.

It wasn’t the meal Peter had planned but it was hard to be disappointed when Ned was sitting across from him, chatting animatedly about the dream he had last night which had apparently involved the entire Academic Decathlon team embarking on a Scooby-Doo-esque mystery alongside the main characters of one of the detective shows Ned’s mother always watched. Peter wasn’t paying too much attention to Ned’s words but he was enthralled at the animated way he told his story and the way his whole face seemed to light up as he spoke. Peter had always liked how passionate Ned got about things – their entire friendship had started because Ned had yelled out across their kindergarten classroom that they had to be friends because they had matching Captain America backpacks – and his appreciation for it had only grown once Peter had begun realizing how adorable Ned looked when he was excited.

The actual cooking of the meal had been a disaster, but even Peter had to admit, the end result was not bad at all. The boys finished eating quickly enough and after cleaning their dishes – Peter again made sure to take Ned’s for him – turned their attention on what to do with the day.

“No science experiments.” Peter said immediately, before Ned had the chance to suggest them. His friend smiled ruefully up at him in response.

“I was not going to suggest finishing the experiments. One injury is plenty. Although the one where you make your own lava lamp in a cup is pretty cool looking – and probably pretty safe.”

“No.” Peter repeated, folding his arms over his chest and giving Ned his best impression of May’s stern face. The other boy put his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Alright, alright! No science experiments. You got anything you want to do? We could always try to finish Avengers Tower on Minecraft if there’s nothing you are dying to do.” Ned suggested amicably. Peter thought for a moment – the boys had been working on trying to make a replica of New York City on the game for years and the Tower, although no longer technically the Avengers since Mr. Stark had finalized the sale of it to some ritzy bank, was their central piece in Manhattan. But Peter also wanted to implement the second part of his plan and he knew that it would only work if he did it today.

“I got an email from the Lego Store in Queens Center this morning, they are having a sale that I thought we could check out.” Mr. Stark had suggested buying gifts and May had suggested doing things that both he and his crush would like to do and Peter thought Legos were the perfect compromise between the two. And he had technically seen the notification for the sale in the morning anyway as it had been after midnight when he saw it pop up while he had been looking at various places he could take Ned.

As Peter knew they would, Ned’s eyes lit up immediately. They wouldn’t be able to buy the big set they were saving up for – and they had spent a good half of that money on May’s new vase anyway – but a sale was a good place to pick up smaller sets they could put together side by side. “Dude, of course we should check that out. What time is it – we got to hurry and get down there before it opens so we can get the good stuff!” Ned didn’t even pause for Peter to actually answer his question and instead immediately turned to head to Peter’s bedroom. “I call dibs on first shower!” He called over his shoulder.

Peter didn’t even try to hide the fond smile that bloomed across his face as he watched Ned’s retreating form. Ned was just too cute and Peter was absolutely positive that this part of his plan would work out. Much like Disney World, nothing bad ever happened at a Lego store. It was simply too pure of a place for anything bad to touch it, in Peter’s completely unbiased opinion.

Peter really should have learned to stop jinxing things.

Peter went into his bedroom and picked out his clothes while Ned showered. Normally he wouldn’t take his clothes into the bathroom with him but with Ned here he felt way too self-conscious about walking the hallway in just a towel. He had seen enough movies and television shows to know that walking around in a towel in front of one’s crush _never_ ended well and Peter was not going to risk that particular brand of embarrassment. Even though it had been one of Mr. Stark’s more ridiculous suggestions that Peter had thrown out outright right along with his first suggestion of just straight up kissing the person he liked and hoping for the best.

Ned finished his shower quickly and emerged from the bathroom already fully dressed and with his hand rebandaged. Peter tried very hard not to think about Ned having been undressed in the bathroom while he took his friend’s place. There were some places he really wasn’t ready for his mind to go to when it came to his overly large crush. Peter was quick to shower and get ready for the day, knowing from past experience that Ned wouldn’t hesitate to stand outside the bathroom door and knock loudly until Peter left the bathroom if he thought he was taking too long.

He wasn’t allowed to find it too annoying because he definitely did the exact same thing whenever he thought Ned was taking too long. He left the bathroom fifteen minutes after he entered and quickly went back to his room to toss his pajamas in his hamper and grab his shoes. Ned was sitting on his bed, tapping away at his phone, but he looked up when Peter entered. “Dude, this sale is _legit_. 25%-50% off almost the _entire_ store. I hope that includes the building sets, I could check off so much on my list!” Peter couldn’t help but grin at his friend’s excitement, feeling his own grow. He knew all too well that Ned’s goal was to collect all the building and famous landmark sets Lego had created and make his own little town. All the other kinds of sets Ned and Peter liked – Star Wars, the old Harry Potter ones, Superheroes, Disney – they collected together but the town was Ned’s own private collection. Peter planned on buying Ned something from the store to add to it.

“It’s gonna be awesome, man.” Peter responded as he slid his shoes on. Ned jumped up from the bed then, bouncing on his feet with excitement. Peter grinned at him as he turned to grab his wallet and keys from his desk. “What sets are you looking for?” Peter asked as they made their way out of the apartment and down onto the street. Peter knew, generally, what sets Ned already had – it was important information to have for birthdays and Christmas – but he also knew that the other boy had a prioritized list of the ones that he thought were the coolest and he needed to be careful not to accidently buy him the same one that he was looking for.

“I want to try to get some of the Architecture sets,” Ned replied as they made their way to the Subway. “I really think they’ll make the city cool, and so far, I only have the Statue of Liberty one my dad bought me last year.” He added as they made their descent down to the station and used their Metrocards to pass through the turnstiles. “What about you?” He asked as they settled by an unoccupied pillar to await the next train.

“Oh, nothing in particular.” Peter answered a little too breezily. It hadn’t crossed his mind that Ned would expect Peter to be looking for a particular set – which in hindsight was pretty ridiculous because of course Peter should have a specific set in mind when he was the one who had suggested the trip in the first place – and he had to scramble to come up with something. “Just figured I’d buy the coolest one to catch my eye.” He said finally, hoping Ned would take him at his word.

“Maybe they’ll have some new superhero sets in,” Ned said, shooting a very obvious, knowing smile at him. Peter flushed a bit at that, knowing exactly what Ned was suggesting. Lego had a way about capitalizing on the Avengers and other superheroes that had caught children’s attentions and there had been some talk around the city that it was about time to develop some centered around New York City’s friendliest vigilante. Peter was generally torn between being really excited and really embarrassed whenever new Spider-Man merchandise came out. Excitement never failed to come when he caught sight of something with his own face on it next to the heroes he himself had grown up with but embarrassment always followed when whatever he got plastered on inevitably ended up in his apartment, courtesy of May, Ned or, in a few outrageous cases, Mr. Stark. Having a Lego set based on him would be a childhood dream come true but he didn’t want to end up with three sets of it because his loved ones all thought they were hilarious.

“Train’s pulling up,” Peter pointed out needlessly, hoping to put an end to the superhero conversation before Ned blurted out something incriminating in the busy station. Both boys moved forward, stopping just at the yellow line as the train came to a full stop and a few passengers streamed out from the open doors. The subway car was not particularly full when Peter and Ned slipped in and they managed to get two adjacent seats close to the doors while still maintaining some distance from the other passengers. Unfortunately for Peter, that meant Ned could continue his teasing without worrying about anyone overhearing much.

“I would love if they had new superhero sets,” Ned told him, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Peter hated that Ned still managed to seem cute when he was being annoying. “Especially if there was a Spider-Man one.” He added, smiling wider. “I’d buy it in an instant. Gotta support my fave.” Peter knew his friend was just teasing him but he still felt a rush of warmth at Ned’s words. It always felt nice when Ned praised him because Peter knew he meant it, even when he was joking.

“I thought your favorite was Iron Man? Mr. Stark’s going to be disappointed to hear that you switched.” He said, working to keep the light teasing as he tried not to blush at the idea of Ned buying his Legos.

“Mr. Stark doesn’t know I exist, I don’t think he’d care.” Ned responded with a shrug. The train began to slow and both he and Peter stood, ready to get off on their stop.

“You’ve never met Tony Stark,” Peter told him as the doors opened and they filed out. “He hates to lose anything. Besides,” Peter dropped his voice a little as they left the station and began up the stairwell, “he totally knows who you are after the whole suit thing.”

“You told him that was _me_?” Ned squeaked, turning partly on the stairs to look at Peter with wide eyes. Peter just smiled. “Oh my God. Tony Stark knows who I am,” Ned said and for a moment he sounded completely thrilled. Then he remembered exactly what he had done to the suit and he turned back towards Peter quickly, a slightly panicked look on his face. “Oh my God! Does Tony Stark _hate_ me? Is he going to kill me?” He whisper yelled. Peter had to bite his lip a little to keep his laugh in.

“Of course not, Dude. I think he was more impressed than anything. I mean, we can never, ever do it again. But I don’t think he’s holding some large grudge or anything. He knows you’re my Guy in the Chair.” Ned was quite a bit more than that to Peter but he figured it wasn’t the time to mention anything like that. Ned for his part, seemed both reassured that one of the wealthiest men in the world did not in fact carry a vendetta against him and also very pleased to have been referred to as Peter’s Guy in the Chair. Peter had called him that countless times at this point but it always put a bright smile on the other boy’s face, so Peter always loved mentioning it.

The Queens Center was a very short walk from the Subway station they had arrived in and it didn’t take very long at all until they had reached the massive mall. It was just past eleven – when the shopping center opened – but there was already a good amount of people roaming around once Peter and Ned entered. Both boys ignored the crowd and instead made a bee-line straight to the Lego store which was fortunately on the first level.

The store was mostly empty, thankfully, and Peter and Ned were smiling as they entered. They had been going to this store since it opened several years ago and it was hands down their most favorite in the entirety of the mall. The brightly colored sets of toys lining the shelves were a welcome site to the boys any day. They smiled briefly at the cashier and a mother holding the hand of her excited child as they passed through to look at the sets towards the back, where most of the larger sets were kept. Peter already had his eye on the Architecture sets tucked into one corner when he felt Ned’s hand tug on his sleeve.

“ _Dude_.” Ned called excitedly as Peter turned to look at him. His friend was holding his sleeve in his good hand and pointing with his injured hand. Peter followed to where he was pointing and felt his eyes widen.

“No. Nope. No _way_!” Peter exclaimed, talking much louder than he should’ve inside a store, drawing the attention of the cashier who gave them a brief, uninterested glance before he turned back to the front. Ned rushed over to the display before Peter could stop him, grinning widely as he grabbed the set that drew his attention.

“I’m buying it!” He told Peter, looking up from the box to grin widely at his friend.

“I thought you were going to get Architecture sets for your city!” Peter said, flushing pink as he watched Ned hug the set close to his chest.

“Peter. I _need_ this.” Ned responded in a mock-serious tone, widening his eyes innocently, still tightly hugging the set.

“It won’t work in your city!” Peter tried, still looking at the set in shock.

“I will absolutely make it work. Look! It’s _perfect_! I love it.” Ned shoved the box at Peter and he took it, still very much in disbelief. The set was a model of a bank robbery with a small bank building, two masked robbers, and – most astounding of all to Peter – a tiny Spider-Man. It was a miniature replica of Peter’s first encounter with the Vulture’s weaponry – there was even a tiny copy of the blaster they had used to set the nearby deli on fire and the robbers had tiny Avengers masks painted on their faces. Peter noted all these things absentmindedly, still reeling at the fact that there actually was a Spider-Man Lego set sitting on a shelf next to sets of other heroes.

_Peter_ was on a Lego set. He was torn between absolute euphoria – he was on a freaking Lego set – and absolute terror – if Mr. Stark or May caught wind of this then Peter’s fear from the Subway would absolutely come true - they would buy as many sets as possible. Ned was _already_ buying a set.

“Isn’t it awesome? I was just joking on the Subway but they actually exist! This is the best thing to ever happen! How did we not hear about this?” Ned was babbling excitedly, definitely acting as if this was the best thing to ever happen. Peter just shook his head, still staring at the set. He and Ned were pretty on top of Lego sets and the fact that neither had heard of a Spider-Man set coming out was very surprising. Still, if they didn’t know about it, more likely than not May and Mr. Stark had also not discovered the latest Spider-Man merchandise. Maybe he could keep it quiet.

“If you buy this Ned, you _cannot_ show May.” Peter told him, still holding the box. Ned stopped bouncing to shoot him a confused look.

“Why not? This is _amazing_!” His friend said.

“Because May would buy like a million of them and then hide all the little Spider-Men everywhere!” It definitely wouldn’t have been the first time May had pranked him with his own merchandise – the most effective had been when she - with Mr. Stark’s help, undoubtedly - had bought and replaced a large portion of his wardrobe with Spider-Man printed clothing when they had come out. The worst had been the pairs of Spider-Man boxers he had been forced to wear until his aunt took pity on him and returned all his normal clothing. He absolutely did not want to find mini-hims stashed around the apartment until he graduated.

“Fair point,” Ned conceded, probably also remembering the Spider-Man underwear. “I won’t tell May. But I am 100% buying it. And you have to admit, it’s absolutely freaking awesome!” Peter looked up at Ned then and, with the reassurance that May would at least not find out from Ned, grinned at his friend.

“It’s the coolest thing that has ever happened to me!” Peter whispered, very aware of the other people still in the store. Ned gave a little whoop that got them another glance form the cashier and took the set back from Peter.

“It’s 25% off, too!” Ned said, looking at the large signs proclaiming which sets counted for the 25% off sale and which counted for the 50%. “So, I can get another set!” He was grinning widely, hugging the set to his chest again and Peter had to admit seeing his friend this genuinely happy was almost enough to forget about the potential embarrassment from his aunt. Almost.

The boys made their way to the back of the store and Peter busied himself pretending to look at all the sets on one side of the wall while he watched Ned look over the Architecture ones out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to manage buying Ned a set without his friend noticing but he was determined to at least try to keep it a surprise. He watched as Ned set down his Spider-Man set and grabbed several of the boxes off the shelves for closer look but averted his eyes quickly before Ned turned to him, knowing fully well that his friend would ask his opinion.

“Peter?” Ned called to get his attention and Peter quickly turned back around, hoping that he had at least been somewhat convincing that he had been looking at the other Lego sets and not at his friend for the past few minutes. Ned held both boxes out for Peter to look at. “Shanghai or Buckingham Palace? I think the palace would work well next to some of the other big houses on the city, but I also like the idea of starting a skyline of buildings up near the Statue of Liberty.” Peter looked at both sets closely. The Buckingham Palace set consisted of a mini version of the whole palace, including the forecourts, Victoria Memorial and a tiny little red bus while the Shanghai set consisted of seven buildings of various sizes that Peter assumed were famous tourist spots in the city.

“What are the prices?” He asked, briefly glancing at the pieces count. The Buckingham Palace was slightly larger which meant Ned would probably get more out of building it than the Shanghai set. But Ned also didn’t have any of the Skyline Collection.

“The Shanghai set is 60 and the Buckingham is 50. But they are both 50% off.” Peter looked at the two of them again, pretending to consider which one Ned should buy. It was obvious to Peter that he would buy the more expensive one for his friend.

“I think you should get the Buckingham Palace, then. It’s got more pieces and its cheaper.” Ned looked down at both again, considering.

“True. I can always get Shanghai a different day. Or put it on my Christmas list.” Ned said, slipping the Shanghai set back on the shelf and picking up the Spider-Man set off the floor. “What set are you going to get?” Ned looked over at the shelves Peter had been pretending to stare at and his face scrunched in confusion. “I didn’t know you were into the Elves collection.” Peter flushed as he finally realized what he had been pretending to stare at. The Elves collection was hardly one Peter had ever paid attention to – if he wanted anything with elves, he would try to collect some of the old Lord of the Rings sets. Ned knew that of course, which meant Peter should have definitely paid more attention to what he had been pretending to be interested in.

“Oh,” Peter crossed his arms in an attempt at a casual stance, “I’m not, really. I just wanted to check them all out because I’ve never really looked at them. I think I’m uh-” Peter glanced around quickly for a section he would plausibly be interested in. His eyes lit up when he saw the Star Wars section. “Gonna buy that one over there.” He nodded in the vague direction of the sets, hoping there was one he hadn’t actually bought yet.

“Oh cool! The Yoda Hut one? I heard it was coming out!” Ned immediately walked over to the shelves and rearranged his own boxes so he could pick the set up with one hand. “It’s 50% off too!” Peter breathed a sigh of relief that Ned bought his quick excuse and walked over to Ned. The Yoda Hut set was actually pretty cool and Peter didn’t own it yet so he decided to consider it a win-win situation as he grabbed the set from Ned’s hands. Now, he just needed to find a way to pick up and buy the Shanghai set without Ned knowing.

The boys headed to the register with their sets, Peter making sure to stand behind Ned so that his friend would go first. He needed to come up with some sort of distraction to get Ned out of the store while he bought his present and he quickly glanced out of the store entrance to see what he could do. His eyes landed on a Starbucks kiosk in the far right corner of the center and he quickly came up with a plan.

“Hey, do you want to get Starbucks after this?” Peter asked Ned as he paid for his sets.

“Sure,” Ned said after he thanked the cashier and grabbed his bag. “I’m always down for seeing you on a sugar rush.” Peter playfully bumped his shoulder in retaliation for the teasing tone his friend adopted as he stepped forward and handed his set to the cashier with a quiet hello. Ned, for some godforsaken reason, preferred his coffee black over anything while Peter needed more milk and sugar than actual coffee to find the bitter taste tolerable. It meant that Peter always bought the most sugar-filled drink possible whenever they went out for coffee and Ned never failed to tease him for it.

The cashier rang up Peter’s set and looked expectantly at the boy. Peter gave a quick smile and pulled out his wallet and grabbed his debit card. He had convinced May to help him open an account a year ago but he rarely used it – most of the local places he and May went to preferred cash and he generally reserved the card for purchases on school trips. In this case though, only the card would work. He slid it into the chip reader when prompted but he was careful to tilt it just enough that it would still go in but wouldn’t read properly. The machine tried to process the card for a moment, then let out an angry little beeping noise. The cashier frowned slightly at Peter, probably annoyed that he was wasting his time, before hitting a few random buttons on the register.

“Pull it out and try again.” Peter gave a small embarrassed smile at the cashier and pulled his card out. He made a show of rubbing at the chip before slipping it back into the card reader, tilted just so. After a moment, the angry beeping returned.

“Man, I’m sorry.” Peter said as the cashier began pressing the buttons again. Peter turned to Ned, hoping that his face looked guiltless enough. “I’ve no idea what’s wrong with my card so this might take a while. Why don’t you go wait in line for Starbucks and I’ll meet you over there?” Ned frowned at him slightly. They were teenagers but they still tended to follow the old buddy-system May and the Leeds had instilled into the two of them when they were first allowed to venture out on their own.

“You sure? I could spot you if you need me to.” Peter was quick to wave off the offer. He needed to get Ned out of the store.

“Nah, don’t worry about it man. I’ll text you if I need you to come back.” Ned stared at him for a second before shrugging.

“Alright, see you in a few.” Peter waited until Ned had turned and left out the store entrance before turning back to the cashier. “I just need to grab something else real quick!” He told the man, holding one finger up before he turned to head back to the Architecture section.

“Seriously?” The other man called out to Peter’s retreating back, obviously annoyed.

“It’s for a good cause!” Peter replied as he grabbed the Shanghai set and raced back to the cashier. The cashier shot him a dirty look but he took the new set and rang it up.

“Trying to surprise your _boyfriend_?” He asked, putting just the right amount of disdain in the word for Peter to know he was just trying to be rude. Peter probably should’ve ignored it but he couldn’t help but respond back as he slipped his card into the machine again, making sure to do it correctly this time.

“Trying to _make_ him my boyfriend, actually.” Wow, that felt surprisingly good to say. Peter smiled brightly as he took the receipt and bag from the surprised cashier’s hand and darted out of the store. He was feeling good – he had nearly successfully completed step two of his plan and he had been able to admit that he wanted Ned to be his boyfriend out loud. Although he would honestly still settle for just being friends with Ned after he confessed, it was a step in the right direction to admit to himself and others that dating Ned was the best case scenario. So Peter was feeling very happy.

He should have known something would come up.

It happened as he was heading towards the Starbucks kiosk. His senses shot up right before a shout rang out and Peter instinctively turned to see a man holding a purse start sprinting towards him as a woman screamed expletives at him in Spanish. Peter wasn’t dressed in his Spider-man suit – he didn’t even bring his web shooters, not that there was anyway he would shoot them in a crowded, daylight filled shopping center without his mask hiding his identity. He had promised May he wouldn’t do any Spider-Manning. But he also couldn’t just let the thief get away with that woman’s purse either. May had asked for no Spider-Manning but surely it didn’t count if he wasn’t _dressed_ as Spider-Man. Besides, it wasn’t like this man was really any threat at all.

Deciding that he would worry about the technicalities later and act now, Peter quickly positioned himself so that the man would run straight into him. When the man tried to skirt around him, Peter stepped forward so that he slammed into the man. He hadn’t had enough momentum to knock the man off his feet but he staggered and Peter took the chance to snatch the purse from his hands and immediately backed away. He could take the man, easily, but not in his normal clothes and not with a crowd. The man was nearly a head taller and easily outweighed Peter; it would arouse way too much suspicion if he beat the man easily and Peter really didn’t want to have to take a beating and try and explain the bruises when May got home.

The man swung at him but Peter avoided his fist, careful to make it look as if it had been a narrow dodge. He tightened his hold on the woman’s purse and the Lego sets and, knowing that if he did nothing the man would just keep trying to hit him, swung them up to hit the man in the stomach. Peter made sure to put enough force behind it that the man doubled over but not enough that it would look suspicious to the growing crowd. Peter backed away further from the man as a security guard came rushing forward.

The security guard went immediately to the thief and Peter made to try to disappear in the crowd, hoping to discreetly return the bag to the woman who had been yelling at the thief and get to Ned before the guard turned to him but he was stopped abruptly by the woman in question rushing up to him. Peter immediately offered her the bag and the woman grabbed it, thanking him loudly in Spanish. She reached into her purse for her wallet and Peter, who never expected or wanted anything in exchange for helping someone, was quick to stop her with a gentle hand on her wrist.

“No - thank you but I just wanted to help.” He told her in soft Spanish, thankful that he had studied it extensively in school. This wasn’t the first time it had been useful in situations like this. The woman thanked him one last time with a kind smile that Peter returned, then turned to the would-be thief, whom the security guard had gotten back upright and was currently handcuffing. Peter watched for a moment as the woman began yelling and gesturing violently at the man then turned slightly to try and make his way discreetly out from the crowd and to the Starbucks kiosk, where he hoped Ned still was.

“Hold up a minute, kid.” The guard called out to him and Peter inwardly winced before turning back around. “Gonna need your statement for the police.” The guard told him. Of course he did. Peter cursed his luck.

“Um… well – you see, I kinda have someone I’m supposed to be meeting now and it really wasn’t a big thing. I heard that lady yell and then saw the guy running towards me so I stopped him. That’s all.” Peter said quickly, inching away from the guard just slightly. A statement would require telling the police his name and a report with Peter’s name being submitted into the police records would definitely be flagged by F.R.I.D.A.Y. as Mr. Stark had her programed to send him anything unusual that was Peter related. If Mr. Stark found out he stopped a robbery as a regular citizen, he was going to be furious and it would definitely get back to his aunt. Peter really didn’t want to be grounded until graduation.

“I saw.” The guard told him flatly, standing tall next to the thief with one hand firmly holding the handcuffs. “Still going to need your statement. Your friend can wait, kid. You’re going to have to come with me.” Peter wanted to protest some more but he knew it would be useless. He needed a different plan to avoid going with the security guard.

“Can I just go find my friend, then? Just to let him know what’s up?” Peter asked the guard, hoping that the man would say yes and Peter could take his chance to find Ned and disappear from the mall. Before the guard could answer, another voice called out.

“Peter!” Peter turned immediately at the sound of the voice, feeling his heart sink a little as he watched Ned push his way to the front of the crowd. Ned had a worried expression on his face as he took in the scene. The woman was still yelling at the other man in Spanish. “Are you okay?” Ned asked, eyes landing on Peter. His voice was concerned and Peter almost felt bad at how annoyed he felt.

“I’m fine.” He told his friend, then turned back to the guard. “Can he come with, at least?” If Ned was with him for however long it took to write down his statement, then at least the time would pass quicker. The guard looked Ned up and down, probably assessing the amount of threat Ned represented – which was a pretty secure zero – before nodding.

“Whatever you want, kid. As long as you come get it over with.” The guard placed a firm hand on the handcuffed man’s back and began pushing his way through the crowd. The woman followed behind, probably to give her own statement, and Peter and Ned trailed after her. Peter wanted to try and talk to Ned – maybe the boy could help him come up with a way to get out of this – but he didn’t want to risk being overheard. So he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped in his passcode one-handedly. He opened his messages and clicked on his and Ned’s thread.

_Dude. I can’t give a statement_. He quickly hit send. It only took a moment until Ned’s phone vibrated and the other boy fumbled to pull it out. Ned seemed as visibly nervous about the whole situation with the mall cop as Peter felt. A moment later Peter’s own phone vibrated in his hand and he pulled it back up to read Ned’s response.

_Why not? You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s the other guy’s fault._ Peter frowned a little before he began responding.

_May’s not going to think of it that way. I promised I wouldn’t do anything!_ The guard led them to an elevator tucked away in a corner of a vacant hallway and Peter had to wait until they were all securely in the elevator and going up until he could read Ned’s response.

_How would she find out?!_ Peter had never told Ned the extent of Mr. Stark’s Baby Monitor protocol, mostly because it was really embarrassing but also partially because it was super illegal to be in as many supposedly secure servers as Mr. Stark had F.R.I.D.A.Y. in. Still, Peter’s pride was nothing compared to the fear of Mr. Stark and May’s wrath and Ned wasn’t about to go telling everyone in sight about the illegal activities of Tony Stark.

_Mr S has the BM protocol set up to check if my name goes on any records_. It took Ned a moment longer to respond as their group piled out of the elevator and continued down an even more deserted looking hallway. Peter assumed they were heading to some sort of security holding area to wait for a police officer.

_Shit._ Peter was about to respond that Ned cursing wasn’t helping when another message popped up. _Tell him a fake name. Not like he’s gonna know the truth._ Peter’s eyes widened in surprise and he was quick to respond as the guard continued to lead them down the hallway and through a no access door.

_I can’t lie! He’s basically a cop! I’ll probably have to talk to a real cop too!_ Peter sent the message as the guard opened another door and directed them all to enter. It was a wide, concrete room with several desks scattered around and video surveillance monitors on the far right wall. Another security officer was in the room but she hardly glanced up as the group entered. Peter was distracted enough when the guard gestured for them all to sit that it took him a long moment to notice that Ned had sent another text.

_You lie all the time as SM. Not that different._ Peter didn’t have time to respond as the security guard began speaking but he thought about Ned’s words as he half-listened to the guard telling them what to expect when the police officer arrived. Ned had a point – there had been several times when Peter had encountered the police on his patrols, generally when he was handing off criminals he had caught, and he had always managed to evade their prying questions by swinging away or outright lying to them. Several times some of Peter’s more outlandish tales had ended up reported in the news.

“I already called the police and Officer Ayala is going to be here in five. She’s agreed to let you guys give your statements here so once you’ve finished, you’ll be free to go.” Peter caught the end of the guard’s speech and nodded his head. At least he wouldn’t have to go down to the police station. His fingers lightly twisted the handles of the shopping bag he had placed in his lap as he half listened to the man repeat himself in broken Spanish to the woman. Ned next to him was nervously tapping against the armrest of Peter’s chair and Peter was half tempted to grab his hand to end the noise.

The guard lapsed into silence once he had gotten the gist of the conversation to the woman and soon the only noises in the room were the rhythmic tapping of Ned’s fingers, the scritching of the security guard’s pen as he began writing down his own report and the breathing of everyone in the room. Every once in a while, Peter heard the thief huff angrily but the man never said anything else, which was good. Peter’s nerves were already jumping fairly high as he waited for the officer and he wasn’t sure he could handle angry taunting from a criminal right now.

Just when Peter felt like he was going to be driven mad by his senses reacting to all the quiet noises, a brisk knock came to the door and everyone in the room turned to look as a police officer entered the room. She was tall and sturdily built woman with a no-nonsense attitude to her that had Peter feeling even more nervous. Ned wanted him to lie to _her_? As _Peter_?

“Hello Officer Ayala.” The guard stood up from his desk and shook hands with the officer before gesturing towards the small ragtag group that had been seated around his desk. Officer Ayala peered at all of them with impassive eyes and Peter felt a lump in his throat form as her gaze briefly held on him before moving on and he tried to swallow it as quietly as possible. He was suddenly wondering if officers were trained to detect fear like they sometimes seemed to in cop dramas.

“You only reported three people involved in the incident.” Officer Ayala said once she had finished taking in the scene, her eyes landing back on the boys. The lump in Peter’s throat returned as he immediately averted his gaze from her.

“Only three were. That boy-” the guard gestured towards Ned who had finally -thankfully - stopped tapping his fingers against the armrest and was instead fiddling with his hands in his lap. “wasn’t involved in the actual altercation.”

“Why is he here then?” Officer Ayala asked briskly, gaze not faltering from the boys. The guard shrugged slightly, obviously unbothered.

“The other kid asked if he could bring him. Seemed nervous about the whole thing, so I said yeah. Didn’t think it was a big deal since it’s a pretty cut and dry situation.” The security guard shrugged again and sat back down in his seat, obviously content with allowing Officer Ayala take over the situation. She gave the boys one more contemplating look, undoubtedly interested in why Peter seemed nervous but apparently content in letting it slide for now as she turned her attention to the woman who had been quietly typing on her phone while the others spoke.

Peter felt a weight temporarily lift from him as the officer began to converse with the other woman in Spanish and he glanced at Ned. The other boy seemed just as jumpy as Peter felt but he offered his friend a small smile when he noticed him looking at him. Peter hesitated for just a moment – instigating touch with Ned still felt incredibly awkward to Peter and it had only been made worse with his reaction to laying his head on Ned’s shoulder yesterday - before he reached out and gently skimmed his hand against Ned’s. It was just a slight touch of his fingers against the back of Ned’s hand, meant for comfort more than anything else – a way for Peter to ground himself in social situations where he felt anxious. It was something Uncle Ben had started with him after he realized Peter didn’t take well to crowded rooms and Peter had done it a lot with Ned when they were younger and had gotten in trouble at school and still occasionally did when things went sideways at school or other social situations.

This was the first time Peter had felt the need to do it since their Freshman year but Ned must have anticipated the touch anyway because his response was immediate – he turned his hand just enough that Peter’s fingers was nearly cupping his thumb and gave Peter’s palm three quick taps. It was the response Peter had taught him in elementary school and it was one that answered Peter’s own touch – it told him Ned was there and that Peter was not alone in the situation. It was comforting and Peter felt himself able to breath a little easier even as Officer Ayala turned back to them.

Her eyes glanced down at the boys’ hands where they lay just barely touching on Ned’s lap and for a split-second Peter thought of breaking their contact, unsure what to make of the officer’s gaze, but he shot down the idea almost as quickly as he had it. This gave him comfort in an entirely uncomfortable situation and Ned hadn’t made any indication of wanting to move his hand away either and they were the only two whom the contact affected. If Officer Ayala didn’t like it or chose to interpret in a certain way, that wasn’t Peter’s problem.

“I’ve spoken to Mrs. Vasquez and she’s indicated that she wants to go down to the precinct to file charges against the man who tried to rob her, so I’m going to speak with you first for your statement and then you are free to go.” Officer Ayala spoke, her tone still brisk but perhaps a little softer than it had been when she first entered. Peter nodded silently, feeling his heartbeat pick up again. He hadn’t done anything wrong of course, but he knew Mr. Stark and May wouldn’t see it his way if word reached them.

Officer Ayala pulled out a small notebook and pen to write with and Peter focused on construing his face in a carefully neutral expression. If he was going to lie to this woman, he needed to at least not look guilty of something. Or at least hope that she would wrongly interpret Peter’s reactions. “What were you doing right before the incident?” The officer asked once she had her pen poised to record Peter’s words. It was an easy question to start with and Peter appreciated it.

“I had just left the Lego store,” Peter gestured down to the bag still in his lap. “and I was going to meet with my friend at the Starbucks kiosk across the way.” Peter was unsure whether or not Officer Ayala wanted him to continue his story or ask another question so he lapsed back into silence as he watched her jot down his words.

“What made you aware that a crime was taking place?”

“Um, well, I heard a lady – Mrs. Vasquez, I mean – yell. So I turned around and saw what was happening.”

“What exactly did you see? Be specific, please.”

“Yeah, um, I saw Mrs. Vasquez standing outside a store – I think it was Top Gun or maybe the Disney Store? It was right next to the Lego Store. And I saw a man running from her, towards me, and he was holding a purse.” Officer Ayala paused in her writing to look sharply at Peter.

“Running towards you? As if he was going to attack or try to rob you as well?”

“No, ma’am.” Peter was quick to reply. “I just meant – more like he was running in my direction? Not at me, but in the same direction, I guess.” Officer Ayala continued to stare at him for a moment and Peter felt himself wilting under her gaze. He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet at least, but she had a way of making him feel like he had.

“Mr. Stephens-” that must have been the name of the security guard. Peter wondered if the man had introduced himself at all to him– if he had, Peter must have missed it. “Indicated that he saw the thief run into you. If he wasn’t running at you specifically, and you were seeing him approach, how did that happen?” Peter fidgeted slightly under the officer’s piercing gaze. Now he felt like he had really done something wrong.

“Well, you see I kinda shifted a little so that he would have no choice but to run into me.”

“You purposely moved yourself so that he would have no choice but to run into you?” She asked him, a bit of incredulity obvious in her tone as she raised a single eyebrow. Peter felt himself get annoyed then – he knew that voice well. It was the voice an adult gave when they thought he had done something reckless or stupid that could have gotten him hurt. But Peter had known what he was doing and knew that the other man offered no real threat to him.

“Yeah, I did. I couldn’t just let him take a lady’s purse and I was in the best spot to stop him. So I let him run into me and while he was distracted I took her purse from him. He tried to hit me after that but his aim’s not the best and I smacked him in the stomach with my bag and Mrs. Vasquez’s purse before he could try again. Mr. Stephens was there right after that and that was the end of the incident.” Peter was looking Office Ayala in the eye as he spoke and his voice was steady, daring her to reprimand him for doing the right thing.

Officer Ayala gazed right back for a moment, still not continuing to write. “Kid, that man’s got at least fifty pounds on you; you could have gotten really hurt if he hadn’t have missed.” She told him sternly, the tone in her voice obviously suggesting that she thought Peter had been lucky that he hadn’t gotten hurt. Peter bristled slightly in response and some angry words were on the tip of his tongue when he felt Ned tighten his fingers around Peter’s hand so that it was fully cupped within Ned’s. It was a warning gesture – it was never a good idea to yell at an adult or say anything rude or sarcastic and it was especially bad to do it to an officer – but Peter was still momentarily floored by the fact that Ned was actually _holding_ his hand and hadn’t let go after the initial squeeze. A lot of the anger fled from Peter with that realization and his next words came out more soft than anything.

“I grew up bullied - my uncle taught me how to avoid a punch from someone bigger than me.” He told her, forcing himself to be calm. Ned’s hand in his definitely helped. “And he also taught me to help others when I can. So I helped Mrs. Vasquez.” He couldn’t help but add. Officer Ayala stared at him for another moment, undoubtedly debating whether or not it was worth lecturing Peter some more. She ultimately decided against it and instead returned to her notebook and jotted down the rest of Peter’s story.

“May we go now, ma’am?” Peter asked once she had finished writing. Officer Ayala looked back up at him, frown still clear on her face.

“Just need your name.” She told him, pen poised expectedly. Peter had worried over this question before Officer Ayala had arrived but now, feeling emboldened both by his own annoyance at the officer treating him like a child and by the comforting warmth of Ned’s hand that was still tightly holding Peter’s, he had no problem spouting off the first fake name that came to his mind.

“Peter Leeds.” He said calmly. He felt Ned jerk in surprise – obviously he hadn’t expected Peter to go through with giving the police the wrong last name – and it was Peter’s turn to squeeze Ned’s fingers, hoping Officer Ayala had not picked up on the response.

Luckily, she had been looking down at her paper and hadn’t noticed anything unusual. “Thank you, Mr. Leeds. You and your friend may go.” Peter nodded and stood up, regretfully dropping Ned’s hand in the process as his friend stood up besides him. He wasn’t sure what to say to the officer so he settled on awkwardly thanking her. He made sure to turn back and wave goodbye to Mrs. Vasquez, who had looked up from her phone once she heard the boys get up. She waved back at him happily and thanked him once more which put a slight smile on Peter’s face again. Officer Ayala may have disapproved of his actions but at least the person he had helped was happy with him. Mr. Stephens hadn’t bothered to look up from his papers but he waved a lazy hand at the two boys.

Peter tried to avoid it but he couldn’t help but glance at the thief he had stopped as Ned waved his own quiet goodbyes – the man was glaring at the boys but Peter wasn’t worried that he would do anything. He was just a petty thief and he had neither of the boys’ real names as Ned had never said anything at all so even if he was the type to try and get revenge, he probably wouldn’t have been able to find the boys again. And even if he did, Peter could definitely handle him if there wasn’t a crowd around.

The boys left the room quickly, hoping to be completely gone from the hallway by the time Officer Ayala began escorting the thief and Mrs. Vasquez out. Neither said anything until they were safely alone in the elevator.

“Dude.” Ned said quietly, openly staring wide-eyed at Peter now. “I can’t believe you actually lied to a police officer!”

“You’re the one that suggested it!” Peter responded. Honestly, now that he was away from the over-crowded room and his annoyance, he was rather surprised as well. It was one thing to lie to an official person behind the safety of a mask and quite another to do it openly. He was very fortunate that the truth hadn’t been written on his face.

“I know! Still! You were like a _badass_!” Ned gushed. Peter scrunched his face up at his friend. Ned was always impressed by the weirdest things. “Although, did you have to use my last name?” Ned added as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open for them. He continued on talking as he walked out of the elevator, oblivious, but Peter stood frozen, face heating up. It hadn’t registered to him, what name he had picked and now that he realized exactly what he had said – Peter _Leeds_ – he felt incredibly mortified. He’d said _that_. In front of _Ned_. Ned must have realized Peter liked him now. He didn’t even get to finish step two of his plan, let alone all the other steps he had come up with. This had to be the _worst_ way for Ned to find out. Peter wanted a hole to open up in the elevator floor and just swallow him whole.

“Dude? You alright?” Ned had turned, one hand against the side of the elevator to hold the doors open. “You know I don’t actually care, right?” He added after taking in Peter’s tense expression. Peter wondered if this was Ned’s gentle way of saying they’d keep being friends. “I don’t _actually_ think the officer is going to find out the truth and track us down with my last name. It was just a dumb joke.” It took a few moments for the meaning of Ned’s words to register but Peter nearly sighed in relief when they did. Ned must have made a joke about that as he was leaving the elevator and thought that’s what freaked Peter out. He hadn’t figured out how Peter felt at all. Everything was alright.

“Right. Sorry, man. Guess I’m just still a little on edge about the whole thing.” Peter told Ned, giving him a small smile as he finally moved out of the elevator.

“Don’t apologize,” Ned replied as they made their way down the first hallway Mr. Stephens had led them through. “I should’ve realized it was too soon. Officer Ayala was kind of terrifying. I mean, she’s got a hard job so I get it, but still. Terrifying.” Peter couldn’t help the soft laugh that Ned’s words brought up. Ned had a natural talent for lightening up any situation. Peter wasn’t sure if he would have been able to handle speaking to Officer Ayala without him and he definitely wouldn’t have thought of giving a false name.

Peter stopped at the corner of the hallway, right before it turned into the busy main floor of the Center. It was suddenly very important that Ned knew how much he had helped Peter. “Ned,” Peter began as the boy turned around to see why he had stopped this time. Peter waited until he had made eye contact. “Thank you.” He pushed as much sincerity into the words as he could.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ned replied, waving away Peter’s gratitude with an easy grin. He went to turn back around but Peter reached out and stopped him.

“I really mean it, Ned. I don’t think I’d have handled that nearly as well without you. Thank you.” Peter repeated the words. It was essential to Peter in that moment that Ned understood what his support in the holding room had meant to him. Ned beamed at Peter and reached up to clap him on the shoulder.

“Anytime, man. You know I’ll always be there for you.” He told him, squeezing his shoulder briefly before letting go. The easy familiarity of Ned’s touch did not make Peter feel awkward or self-conscious for the first time in weeks – Peter wasn’t sure whether it had been him reaching out to Ned with Uncle Ben’s old gesture or if it had been Ned taking the initiative and outright holding Peter’s hand in a way that they hadn’t really done since crossing the street was their biggest obstacle in life but something in the holding room had made touching Ned feel normal again. It was a wonderful feeling.

“But,” Ned started up as both boys began walking again, a carefully crafted innocence to his tone, “next time you pick a fight with someone twice your size without your suit you really should have a backup plan. You know, like running or- hey!” Ned laughed as Peter not-so-accidently bumped into him as they maneuvered their way through the crowd going to and from the various shops around them.

“Sorry!” Peter smiled innocently at his friend, eyes sparkling with mischievous.

“Liar!” Ned accused, pushing his own shoulder into Peter’s. Peter bit back his own laugh and pretended to be affronted.

“I would _never_!” He exclaimed loudly, ignoring the few odd looks they got from passersby as they walked out of the Center. Ned gave Peter a long look for a moment and then both boys burst out laughing. It felt nice – normal, almost despite the incredibly weird mall trip they had – and both boys were still grinning like madmen as their giggles finally subsided and they began walking down the street to the Subway. It had not been the peaceful trip to the mall Peter had expected, but if they could joke and laugh at the end of it, then the trip hadn’t been all that bad.

The boys chatted aimlessly all throughout their trip back on the Subway and their walk back to the apartment. They were in the midst of a spirited and very important discussion on whether or not Muggleborns at Hogwarts would get detention for dueling in the halls if their duels involved magicked lightsabers rather than wands as Peter unlocked the apartment door and opened the door to let Ned go in first.

“I’m telling you, Filch would absolutely give them detention even if he didn’t understand what lightsabers were!” Ned was saying as he walked in and placed his bag of Legos on the coffee table. Peter went to do the same and then realized he wasn’t holding it.

“Shit,” he said. Ned looked up at him immediately. “Did you happen to grab my bag too?” Peter asked, moving to the kitchen table to see if it had maybe been hidden behind Ned’s.

“No. Just mine. Did you put it down to unlock the door?” Peter shook his head, trying to backtrack when he had last seen the bag. He wanted to smack himself when he realized. The last time he had it was in the holding room at the mall. He must have moved it from his lap to stand up and forgotten to pick it up again. The whole reason they had gone to Queens Center – the whole thing that the second step of his plan counted on he had left in the last place he wanted to return to.

“I left it at the mall. Where I talked to Officer Ayala.” Peter told Ned, feeling a little angry despite himself. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten it and that he hadn’t even realized he didn’t have it the entire trip back. This was like the five backpacks he had lost last semester but at least then he had the people who stole them to blame too – this was all his fault.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Ned spoke, bringing Peter out of his thoughts. “At least you left it in a safe area – I don’t think anyone is going to steal a bag in the room they literally take you to for stealing. Just call the Center and tell them you left something and are coming back to get it. Mr. Stephens is probably still there too so you won’t have to awkwardly explain why you were in there.” Ned was right and Peter felt himself calm down – the bag was in a secure place and it hadn’t really been that long since they had left. No reason to freak out although he could still feel annoyed at himself for leaving it.

“What would I do without you, man?” Peter said as he pulled out his phone to look up the number.

“Be way less awesome.” Ned responded and Peter stuck his tongue out at him in response without looking up from his phone. There were several numbers for the Queens Center listed on their website and Peter hesitated briefly before seeing the one labeled for security and choosing it. He barely registered the fact that Ned had left the living room as his phone started dialing.

“Hey Peter, can I borrow some paper?” Ned called out from the bedroom.

“Yeah,” Peter responded distractedly. He briefly wondered why Ned needed paper but quickly dismissed the thoughts as someone picked up his call on the other end.

“Queens Center Security. How can I help?” A man’s voice greeted him and it only took a second for Peter to recognize it as the guard who had brought him and Ned to the holding center. He fist bumped the air – he couldn’t believe he had gotten that lucky.

“Mr. Stephens! Hi, this is Peter P- _Leeds_ , I was with you about an hour ago because of an incident?”

“You that scrawny kid that stopped that purse-snatcher?” Peter decided to ignore the term scrawny in favor of being happy that the man obviously remembered him.

“Um, yeah that’s me! I kind of left a bag in that holding room you took us all too and I was hoping it was still there so I could come pick it up?” Peter waited a moment for Mr. Stephens to respond. He could hear the man get up from his desk so he assumed the man was looking over at the chairs.

“Yeah, there’s a bag here. Lego, right?”

“Yes, sir!” Peter responded happily. A tiny part of him had been worried that he hadn’t actually left it there despite it being the last place he remembered having it.

“I’ll keep it safe for you and you can pick it up any time before closing.” Mr. Stephens responded and Peter could hear him crunching the plastic bag a bit as he lifted it up.

“Awesome! Thanks so much Mr. Stephens! I really appreciate it!”

“Just doing my job, kid.” He responded, a hint of amusement in his tone. Peter didn’t have a chance to say anything else before the line disconnected but he didn’t mind. Peter hadn’t lost Ned’s present and he’d be able to give it to him before the day was out. He was feeling pretty good about it.

“It’s still there, Ned!” Peter called out, heading down the hall to the bedroom so he could talk to his friend without shouting across the apartment. “I’m going to go back now to pick it up, do you want to come with?” He asked as he reached his partially closed door. “Ned?” He was confused by the lack of response as he pushed the door open. Surely Ned had heard him.

Ned was standing in front of his desk, half turned away from Peter, and he didn’t look up when Peter stepped into the room. Peter’s attention immediately went to Ned’s hands. His friend was holding a notebook and it looked like he had been in the process of pulling out a sheet of paper when something had caught his eye. Peter’s heart fell when he realized what notebook Ned had picked out. Peter must have been so distracted by the idea of making Ned breakfast that he had just thrown it on his desk instead of stashing it away. Ned must have just picked up the first notebook he had seen.

Ned had grabbed the notebook Peter had used to write down his plan. And, judging from his friend’s shocked silence, he must have read part of it. It wouldn’t have taken much reading to understand what it was. Peter always found writing a basic title for anything he was working on a good way to focus himself. The first thing he had written had been “ways to woo Ned.” He had also used Ned’s name often throughout the plan. Ned must have seen his name on the last page – the plan lasted about three – and flipped until he saw the beginning of whatever Peter had written about him. Ned had seen what Peter had written.

Ned _knew_.

Ned had _found_ out. Peter hadn’t gotten a chance to successfully carry out any part of the plan and ease himself into confessing because he had written the whole thing down and Ned had _found_ it.

Of all the ways Peter had thought Ned would find out this weekend– through one of the adults finding out and cancelling the whole sleepover, through putting the pieces together with how weird Peter had been acting, through Peter calling himself by Ned’s last name – this was the worst way it could have happened. This was the _absolute_ worst way. This was worse than the time Ned had found out he was Spider-Man because he saw Peter crawl in through the window. This was worse than when May had found out he was Spider-Man because Peter hadn’t checked if his door was closed when he put the suit on. This was worse than when he blurted out to May that he liked boys after the fight in Germany. This was worse than how he had blurted out that he liked Liz in the middle of a school hallway.

Ned knew how Peter felt now. He had physical, written evidence in his hands right now that detailed how Peter felt. And he wasn’t saying _anything_.

“I-uh- oh God.” Peter began, unable to take a step closer to Ned but wanting more than anything to rip that notebook from his friend’s hands. Ned finally turned to look at Peter now, his mouth wide in surprise. “It’s not what it looks – I mean. Holy shit.” Peter babbled, unable to get any words out. “I mean, it is. It is what it looks like I – I, oh god.” Peter couldn’t look at Ned – his thoughts were jumbled, panicked. He felt like his breath was constricted in his chest as he tried to force himself to get words – any words out that could explain this situation.

Ned was going to hate him if he couldn’t explain – he’d think it strange that Peter had made some ridiculous plan on how to woo him and never want to speak to him again. Peter needed to explain himself right now if he ever hoped to still have a friendship with Ned. He scrunched his eyes closed and balled up his fists. His heart was beating uncontrollably fast as his nerves screamed at him to retreat -that this situation was dangerous - but he forced himself to try to speak again.

“It is what it looks like,” he repeated, trying and failing to keep his voice above a whisper. He couldn’t hear anything over the roar of blood soaring in his ears but he forced himself to open his mouth again. “I really like you Ned. Like, really really like you and I know that that’s not how friends are supposed to feel about friends and I tried not to. I denied it for a long time – it actually took Mr. Stark telling me for me to actually figure it out, although he doesn’t know I was talking about you at all so you don’t have to worry about him knowing it’s you. I haven’t told anyone that I liked you, besides, well you right now so if you want this all to all just disappear it definitely can. I wanted to try and tell you how I felt while you were staying over but that wasn’t cool. I forced you into a situation that you probably wouldn’t feel comfortable in had you known the truth and I’m so so sorry.” Peter was speaking too fast now and he didn’t know if any of his words were making any sense but he couldn’t stop. Ned had to _understand_.

Peter’s eyes were still tightly shut as he continued speaking but he could feel the sting of tears threatening to spill across his cheeks. “I really, really am sorry. And I just care about being your friend – you’re my _best_ friend, Ned and I don’t want to ruin that. I never want to lose you and if this – this way I feel about you makes you uncomfortable I’ll bury it deep and I’ll ignore it, I promise. I just want to be your friend and have you stay in my life and I’m so so so sorry that I’ve done anything to ruin that. Oh God, I’m so-”

“Peter.” Ned’s voice was soft, gentle and quite a bit closer than Peter would have expected. It stopped his rant in its tracks but he still didn’t dare open his eyes to look. He couldn’t bear to see the look on his friend’s face. “Peter.” Ned repeated, more earnestly this time and he felt a warm hand grab his wrist. “Look at me, please.” Peter pointed his head downwards before his eyes slowly blinked open and he stared down at their feet. Ned was standing close to him, very close. Peter didn’t know how he hadn’t realized Ned had moved but he had and there were mere inches between the two of them. And Ned was still holding Peter’s wrist, his thumb rubbing soft circles against the soft skin.

“Look at me.” Ned repeated and Peter finally slid his gaze up, heart still beating erratically. Ned was looking at him earnestly, with bright eyes and it took Peter a moment to register that his friend was smiling widely. “I shouldn’t find this amusing,” Ned began, as he reached for Peter’s other wrist so that he was holding both of them, “I really shouldn’t because you’re obviously freaked out and it’s not cool to find anything funny about that but, damn Parker you are an idiot.” Peter blinked in surprise. He had been expecting anger and confusion from Ned, not this weird happy and amused Ned who was insulting him but also smiling. Peter opened his mouth to ask what Ned meant but a gentle squeeze to both his wrists had him closing it once more.

“I mean, come on dude. I’ve had the biggest crush on you _since_ Middle School. You’re the reason I figured out I was gay in the first place. I went to that coffee shop with Nick because he was the one friend I had that you didn’t have and I could talk about it to him.” Peter blinked again in surprise. He couldn’t be hearing Ned right- he liked _Peter_? _Peter?_

“I – wha-?” Was all he was able to get out. His head was swimming with the new information and his heart was still beating harshly even as he felt a weight lift from his chest. Ned had a crush on him? Had had one since Middle School?

Ned returned Peter’s feelings?

“Dude.” Ned said and there was definite laugh in his voice now. He inched a bit closer to Peter, pulling Peter’s arms to the side with his own. They were almost touching now as Ned angled his head up so that he could still look Peter in the eyes as he spoke. “It’s not that hard, man. I like you. I really really like you. I am not freaked out by your plan – it’s actually super cute and we are definitely talking about it later. I wouldn’t have minded if you told Mr. Stark that you had a crush on me – don’t mind if you tell anyone. And I 100%, for sure, do not want to be just friends. At all. Ever.”

Peter’s mind was still reeling as he tried to come up with a response. Ned was so close now, so very close and it was affecting Peter’s processing and speaking skills. “But you always called me ‘bro’.” He whispered finally. Ned was so close to him that he could actually feel the vibration of his laughter.

“Because you’re my best friend! It doesn’t mean I actually thought of you as a brother. I am not into that Luke with a crush on Leia hetero-nonsense even if I think Luke is straight.” That got a surprised chuckle out of Peter and Ned smiled triumphantly in response. “What’s it going to take to get it through your head? I like you.” Peter hesitated for a moment, heart beating erratically. Ned was so close now that all either had to do was lean in a little and they’d be kissing. Peter had never done anything like that before.

“Think I need a demonstration.” He squeaked out finally, cheeks flaming red. “Visual learner, you know.” Peter could have leaned down, closed the distance between the two of them himself – he probably should have – if Ned was telling the truth about crushing on Peter since Middle School he had been waiting a lot longer for him to make a move – but there was a visceral need in Peter to have Ned instigate it. A part of him that did actually need some tangible evidence other than just words.

Ned was blushing a bit himself now, at Peter’s words – a dark flush spread across his cheeks that wouldn’t have even been noticeable if he hadn’t been standing so close to Peter in the first place – but he didn’t hesitate before leaning in and closing the distance between the two of them. It was a light touch – more a brush of Ned’s lips against Peter’s own than a kiss – but Peter felt like sparks had passed between them and he gasped a little as tiny shivers ran down his body at the feeling. Ned pulled away just enough that he could whisper again to Peter, “believe me now?” Ned said it jokingly but Peter could hear the soft breathlessness in Ned’s voice that made him sure that the other boy had felt the same jolt Peter had.

“I think there’s some truth to your claim.” Peter whispered, twisting his wrists just enough that Ned would release them and then cupping Ned’s hands in his own. It felt even better now to hold Ned’s hands then it had at the mall. “But I think I need to run an experiment myself.” He didn’t wait for Ned to respond and instead closed the distance between them himself. His kiss was a little more firm, more of a tentative press than a brush but he hadn’t thought to angle his face any different so their noses bumped against each other. Peter pulled away, blushing a little more deeply with the knowledge that he had managed to fumble the first time he tried to kiss someone. Ned laughed a little and Peter joined in after a moment.

It was a wondrous laugh, part relief, part happiness, and part disbelief that he had managed to get so lucky and he was sure Ned’s laugh was made of the same emotions. It took the boys a minute to curb their mirth and when it finally died down, Ned was smiling brightly up at Peter, a bit of mischievousness in his eyes. It was the look he always gave when he was about to tease Peter but there an unguarded fondness in his gaze that Peter had never noticed before.

“That could have gone better. I can see why you never got a second date with Liz now.”

“ _Dude_!” Peter said before he started laughing again. It was such a Ned thing to say and it made Peter feel warm knowing that even if their relationship was entering unknown territory, Ned was still the same person. He was still his best friend from Kindergarten who had always been there for Peter and would undoubtedly continue to do so for a long time to come. He had been there through a lot of Peter’s major firsts and Peter looked forward to experiencing some new firsts with him. Starting now.

Peter released his hold on Ned’s hands and instead, very carefully, put his hands on Ned’s waist and pulled the other boy closer so that their torsos were actually touching. It brought a surprised squeak from Ned but the other boy didn’t try to move away from Peter’s gentle hold on him. “Guess I’ll just have to keep practicing.” He told him then and then dipped his head back down before his friend could come up with another teasing response. This time he made sure to tilt his head so that when he pressed against Ned’s lips, their noses slanted together rather than bumping into each other. Ned’s hands found their way to the other boy’s shoulders in a touch just as gentle as Peter’s was and it sent little jolts of electricity all the way down Peter’s spine.

Peter found himself smiling into the kiss and he could feel that Ned was doing the same. In that moment, it didn’t matter that none of Peter’s plan had been carried out – it didn’t matter that he had burnt the eggs or forgot the Lego set. It didn’t matter that Ned had found out on his own and that Peter had only finally told him in a wild speech that Ned would eventually fondly refer to as a complete disaster. It didn’t matter that Peter hadn’t heeded any of the advice from Mr. Stark and May that he had thought useful. Because, as it happens so often when teenagers believe themselves smarter than any adult around them, Peter had only needed to follow the first piece of advice Mr. Stark had given him.

He only needed to kiss the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all who took the time to read this! This ended up being an incredibly long piece of absolute fluff and I hope you all enjoyed reading it! It definitely took Peter long enough to get his stuff together and I hope that the ending was satisfying to everyone who had been waiting for him to do so. I plan on continuing this series with more one-shots (with them now together!) and I hope to have another story up soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thank you for reading! I hope you all liked it as much as I liked writing it. This is only the first half of this story (it got way too long to put it all in a single chapter) and so there will be a second chapter ( I do plan on the boys actually getting together in this specific story, eventually). I really liked writing Peter's interactions with May and Ned so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. I will try to have the second half up soon!


End file.
